Kerja Sepenuh Masa, Financial Services Advisor di AIA Singapore - Maukerja

Financial Services Consultant | AIA Singapore

Maybe you weren’t planning to become a Financial Consultant.

Neither was I.

Before entering financial advisory, I spent 5 years working as a Software Engineer.

I had a stable career and a completely different professional path ahead of me. Making the switch wasn’t an easy decision, and I had many of the same questions that someone considering this career might have:

“Am I actually suited for this?”

“What if I’m not a natural salesperson?”

“Can I really leave what I’m familiar with and start again in a completely different industry?”

I eventually took that step.

Today, I’m building my career in financial advisory with Virtus Associates, and I’m looking to connect with people who may be curious about doing the same.

You don’t need to have already decided that this is the career for you.

You just need to be open to finding out what it’s really about.

What does the role actually involve?

At its core, you’ll work with individuals and families to understand their financial situation, priorities and goals, and help them make informed decisions about their financial future.

This can include areas such as:

• Protection and risk management

• Wealth accumulation

• Retirement planning

• Family and life-stage planning

• Building and maintaining long-term client relationships

But I also want to be transparent about the other side of the career.

You’ll need to learn how to build your own client base.

That means prospecting, reaching out to people, asking for referrals, meeting potential clients, handling rejection and consistently creating new opportunities for yourself.

You’ll also develop skills in communication, personal branding, relationship management and business development.

It is a people-facing and performance-driven career, and your results will depend significantly on the work you’re willing to put in.

Do I need to come from finance or sales?

No.

I came from software engineering myself.

What’s more important to me is your attitude towards learning, people and personal growth.

I’m looking to speak with people who are curious, coachable, willing to challenge themselves and prepared to take ownership of their results.

You may currently be working in tech, engineering, finance, operations, sales, healthcare or something completely unrelated.

Your previous industry doesn’t automatically determine whether you’ll be good at this.

Let’s also talk about what this career isn’t.

This isn’t a “get rich quick” opportunity.

It isn’t a career where clients simply appear because you’ve joined the industry.

And I’m not going to tell you that every day will be exciting or easy.

There will be rejection.

There will be targets.

There will be uncomfortable conversations.

And especially at the beginning, you’ll need to put significant effort into learning, prospecting and building your client base.

But for the right person, it can also be an opportunity to build something you’re genuinely responsible for, develop valuable skills, work closely with people and have a direct impact on the financial decisions they make throughout their lives.

What can you expect?

You’ll receive training and mentorship as you learn the foundations of financial advisory, client conversations, financial planning and business development.

More importantly, you’ll have people around you who understand that becoming good at this takes time.

I’m still building my own career too.

So I’m not recruiting from the position of someone who’s going to tell you that I’ve figured everything out.

What I can share with you is what I’ve experienced making the transition from a completely different industry, what I’ve learnt along the way, what has been difficult, and why I’ve chosen to continue building this career.

Curious, but not ready to make a career switch?

That’s completely fine.

You don’t have to apply because you’ve already decided to become a Financial Services Consultant.

Apply if you’re curious about the career, considering a change, or simply want to understand what financial advisory is actually like beyond what you see from the outside.

I’ll be happy to share my experience with you — including both the opportunities and the challenges — and you can decide for yourself whether it’s something worth exploring.

We can start with a conversation.