A freelance job can take a lot of forms, from working nursing for those who need an overnight assist, to working a blog, or starting servers, or even writing articles for web sites who require them on a regular basis. Programmers who work freelance are often paid more than twice what they normally make for working in an office and Canada as well as the US offered these incentives, because they do not have to maintain offices and furnish the supplies for these type employees. Dave began on a smaller project and worked on a temporary basis. Many sites will offer some wonderful individuals who will pay well and in a timely way, however there are also those who will low ball and ask you to do an article along with research that may take upward of an hour, for two dollars or less. The company was pleased with his work and hired him to become a permanent part of their team. Finding a way to freelance for companies who need the services of someone like you, on a day to day basis is a great way to stay at home and support yourself and your family.

Medical consulting is one that I took on, and it worked well for me because as a former nurse, some of the medical knowledge that I had was exactly what was necessary in the specific web site I worked for. Nurses who work freelance in the US make substantially more than they might do working in hospital, and give the fairly vast nursing shortage they can expect to be offered a great deal more in other countries. Consulting can be rewarding both personally and financially as in the case of Dave who currently works for one of the largest computer firms in the world. If you are tired of the day to day running to an office, don’t like alarm clocks or suits and decided that there had to be a better way to make a living, then you’re probably ready for a career change. Be careful to research the quality of those who want to buy your time or service, and to ask them for the names of others who have worked for them in the past so that you can assure yourself of their reputation as an employer and to be sure that they pay, and pay in a timely way. What I did, was to work several of those jobs each week, and to build a rapport with some of the companies, who then in turned used my service again and again, and offered some great referrals to assist me in finding others.

Among the companies who use freelance assistance in some of their projects are some very well known companies such as: *Google, the search engine giant *Rent a Coder *Kelly Temps: supplies writers, secretaries, programmers and a wide array of temporary workers nationwide in the US. One way to get a foot in the door, is to seek out one of the many sites which have begun to pop up on the Internet that will match you up with those who want your services. No group will want to use someone who can’t write well, or whose grammar and English needs to be consistently corrected or replaced. He now travels both nationally and internationally to work on projects and has effectively tripled his salary from what it was when he began working for an ISP several years ago. Most will charge a small fee for you to use their service, but you will find the opportunity to bid on many different types and priced jobs, where you can begin to make a name in the consulting business. Many companies will hire those whose work they admire for a permanent placement. Make sure that when you work at the position, you will check and double check your work prior to turning it in. Freelance consulting may just be your step up to a new career path. When I was working nursing, I found that even the non skilled nursing jobs paid more for me in the open arenas such as home health than they did when I was working in house such as a hospital or nursing home. I left the office full time over 2 years ago, and although things were tight in the beginning, so far I haven’t’ looked back. Much like you’d not take a position that paid you two dollars an hour in the real world, so you can’t afford to do so when you are consulting and discouraging others from taking the lower pay will in the end help everyone involved in freelancing. So many fields are now open to the consultant that to choose a course that would serve well in all of them is difficult at best, however the one that springs immediately to mind would be of course English or grammar. Specific courses that might aid you in a consulting career would be as varied of course as your choice of the career to follow. Working for someone for two weeks, who doesn’t pay for two more weeks, probably will make living difficult when you are dependent upon your jobs for your support. Freelance Programmers and writers are in great demand by many US Companies, as are drivers, writers and medical personnel. Dependent upon your skills in the field that you’ve chosen you are well able to meet your needs financially by a career in consulting.

I then took on a virtual assistant job that lasted for about 8 months, prior to moving back to writing articles and restarting servers again. Sun Micro-systems, who have been known to hire on a temp basis for a specific project. Signing on with a company to do a particular job and see it through to its completion will ease the concerns about that type of exploitation, with a set fee arranged for each job that you tackle, much like the salaried employee would have.

In these times, clients are feeling insecure because of the unprecedented market situation and rightly so. It becomes our job to find the right solution and advice to help them steer through these times as best as possible. Clients are also becoming increasingly sophisticated and informed. As a Financial Planner, you have to be on top of your game or you will be quickly made obsolete or worse, become led by your own client, which may sometimes lead to disaster for themselves.

With needs becoming more complex and financial products becoming more varied, we need to be creative and flexible in cutting through the clutter and finding that right comprehensive mix for our clients. The only way to do this is to be constantly open-minded, innovative and updated and keep four simple must-haves to stand out in the financial planning industry:

Thirst for Knowledge
Always be willing to learn and believe that knowledge is your key tool and value-add. Trust knowledge and not your emotions because numbers never lie. Never be complacent with what you think you know and never have preconceived assumptions or formulas because every client is different.

Understanding & Application
More than just knowing, you must be able to understand and appreciate the market situation in order to apply your knowledge for the benefit of your clients.

Pressure-proof
You must be able to handle the pressure of expectation because as a Financial Planner, more is expected from you than if you were representing a bank.

People Skills
Communication, empathy, ethics and sincerity are needed here.

For those who are considering a career as a financial planner, here are some tips:

Find a Mentor:
Find someone good, follow and learn. Not everything has to be learnt the hard way.

Find your Market:
Try to identify your niche, a market which you enjoy handling and as such, will do better with ease.

Think BIG!
Singapore is respected as the financial hub and a safe haven. Use it to your advantage!

The most important reward is just being able to help. When you solve a client’s needs or know that your clients have become your friend, or experience touching moments when someone you have helped looks at you with a gratitude so deep that words aren’t enough. That is when you know that you have arrived! So apply the MUST HAVES above and get rewarded when you feel the appreciation of your clienteles.

These tips are brought to you as a result of research and findings from real career coaching clients of mine. Together they form a strategy to help you achieve that career change you’ve been thinking about. Be warned though; it takes commitment, but the rewards are worth it! Good Luck in your career change!

1. Bring the best you to the table As a career coach, when people come to me to discuss a potential new career, they are often at a point of crisis in their career. They may have been experiencing negativity from a line manager or colleagues. So when you’re planning a career change, with or without engaging a career coach, I would urge you to really focus on the task in hand; you need to bring the best version of you to any decisions about career or life. I use guided meditations and visualizations to allow you to tap into you “Higher Self”, or as a pragmatist I’d say it’s more than just “trying to be positive”. I suggest you allow yourself the time and space to focus on this life changing decision you are about to make. How about writing a list of ten things that you like about yourself, as a primer to get into the right frame of mind?

2. Know yourself There is a natural urge to steam ahead with the job hunting, but we are talking career change here right? I mean, isn’t it worth taking that step back and really looking at yourself closely to ensure that your next career transition is worthy of your values. If I tell you that in my career change programme, 8 out of 12 sessions are exploration based, you might begin to see the depth that I recommend. A simple personality profile test, and there are many available, will be a good starting point.

3. Skills inventory Think Transferable Skills here; what generic skills (e.g. staff management, sales skills, financial, budgeting, project mgmt.) do you have? Make a list and keep that list visible on a day to day basis, so you can add to it as ideas come to you.

4. Your career / Life goals I hope that you’re beginning to see that sitting down with a blank sheet of paper, and creating lists is the only way to truly begin with many of these tips. As a career coach, I help people to really look deeply into what it is that they want, in both life and career. This cannot be dealt with superficially and takes some honest soul searching. Perhaps you could even ask others (past managers, colleagues, friends) to tell you what they think of you! You may be in for a pleasant surprise!

5. Create a list No, not a list of jobs that you might like, not even a list of themes (later!!), but “factors” about jobs which might appeal to you. I’ve nothing against window cleaners I assure you, but I use this as an example when I’m speaking to clients about this; say you saw a window cleaner doing their job – it’s not about “Would I like to be a window cleaner?”(Or any other job for that matter), but are there factors, or aspects of that job you’d like? Working your own hours? Meeting new people? Being your own boss? Many people also start with getting the Sunday job supplements, and cutting out words, pictures, statements which appeal (don’t “edit” yourself at this stage). Doing this in a visual / collage style really helps to form a picture of what job aspects appeal to you.

6. Allow yourself to dream When you’re thinking about a new career, I ask you not to “edit” yourself initially. Imagine a jelly fish expanding and contracting… This is the expanding stage, and it relates strongly to previous point. Think about jobs you’ve always wanted to do, things you dreamt about as a child, get it all down on paper. There will be plenty of time to whittle things down later on.

7. Look for themes So by now you’ll have a few long list, possible a collage, and many thoughts about your life and career. Specifically within the work themes and work aspects you’ve listed, you now need to work through them, and try to get all of the (hopefully many!) differing themes down into three workable, realistic for you, options.

8. Find your path This is a tough challenge, and one that takes a lot of soul searching and decision making. Remember the jelly fish? We’re now contracting, getting those three themes down to one! “Wow! How do I do that?” I hear you ask. It’s not easy but will require digging deep into each of the three themes to find out what each one really means to you, why it meet your values, and life purpose. Just take your time and work through it. It has to be your choice in the end.

9. Action plan. The preceding eight points are for nought without a meaningful, “smart” action plan, which details people, dates, activities that you will need to undertake in order to move closer toward your ideal career. It’s all about bridging that gap between an idea, and making that idea a reality.

10. Commitment I’d like to re-focus you back to the opening sentence of point one. If you’re seriously considering a career change, then it’s best to set aside proper time to put your ideas into action. This whole process is designed to change your life and career for the better, but it takes serious commitment, so try to ensure that you are distraction-free when you’re making lists, or thinking things through. Commitment is probably the key point that will determine success or failure with this process. If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to help you. Contact me for a free career assessment.

Indian retail investors are considered to be risk averse due to many reasons. Mutual Funds can therefore be regarded as a boon for such investors. Mutual Fund industry is playing an active role in the capital market today and is one of the fastest growing industries.

What’s a Mutual Fund?

Wikipedia says, “a mutual fund is a professionally-managed form of collective investments that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities.”

Structural Framework of a Mutual Fund:

This article aims to highlight the various job opportunities in each of the departments in an Asset Management company of a Mutual Fund.

Asset Management Company (AMC):

1. Fund Management

In a mutual fund, the Fund Manager, who is also known as the portfolio manager, decides about the investment of the fund’s underlying securities (money received from investors for investment), realizing capital gains or losses, and collects the dividend or interest income. The investment proceeds are then passed along to the individual investors.

Who’s required? Here, deep economic analysis is required for effective investment decision making and therefore professionals from Commerce, Economics, Finance, Mathematics and Management background are required. Chartered Accountants, MBA Finance, Financial Analysts, Economics Masters, Statistics Masters are in huge demand. The pay package for such professionals ranges between Rs. 3 lacs – Rs. 6 lacs p.a. approx.

2. Operations

Investments on the recommendation & directions of the Fund Manager are actually required to be done through series of trading transactions; for which ‘Dealers’ are required.

National Stock Exchange (NSE) has a facility for testing and certification by launching NSE’s Certification in Financial Markets (NCFM). NCFM is an online testing system, a revolutionary concept in administration of examinations and the only one of its kind today in the country. It tests the practical knowledge and skills required to operate in the financial markets in a secure and unbiased manner and awards certificates based on relative merits thus ensuring that the calibre of persons entering this field is kept high in the best interests of a mature and vibrant market.

It has been specified by SEBI that all brokers/dealers in the stock market have to mandatorily obtain the NCFM certification.

The various Certification Modules are: Derivatives Market (Dealers) Module, Capital Market (Dealers) Module, Debt Market (Basic) Module, Surveillance in Stock Exchanges Module, NSDL – Depository Operations Module, Commodities Market Module, Corporate Governance Module, Compliance Officers (Brokers) Module, Compliance Officers (Corporates) Module, Information Security Auditors Module (Part-1 & Part- 2).

The certification remains valid for 5 years from the date of the test for all modules except Derivatives Market (Dealers) Module, Commodities Market Module and Information Security Auditors Module.

Who’s required? Candidates having knowledge of Capital Markets, Derivatives, Equities, Stock Exchange functioning, etc. are required along with certifications in one or more above mentioned Modules. The pay package ranges between Rs. 90 thousand to Rs. 1.20 lacs p.a. approx.

The Registrar & Custodian is a trust company, bank or similar financial institution responsible for holding and safeguarding the securities owned within a mutual fund. A mutual fund’s custodian may also act as the mutual fund’s transfer agent, maintaining records of unit holder’s transactions and balances.

Who’s required? Here, candidates from Secretarial, Legal background and semi-qualified professionals are required. The pay package ranges between Rs. 80 thousand- Rs 1.20 lacs p.a. approx.

3. Marketing

The AMC launches various schemes through which it invites investors to put their money. To reach the retail investors and provide them with the information about the schemes, extensive marketing is done through various channels of the media.

The distribution / selling of these schemes are done through Agents, Advisors, Third-party Distributors.

SEBI has made mandatory for any entity / person engaged in marketing and selling of mutual fund products to pass AMFI certification test (Advisors Module) and obtain registration number from AMFI. This certification remains valid for 5 years from the date of the test.

The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) is dedicated to developing the Indian Mutual Fund Industry on professional, healthy and ethical lines and to enhance and maintain standards in all areas with a view to protecting and promoting the interests of mutual funds and their unit holders.

Who’s required? Here, graduates having the AMFI certification can work as Business Development Managers / Relationship Managers / Advisors for the marketing and distribution of the mutual fund schemes. Relationship Managers / Advisors assist investors in their financial planning by recommending them ideal investment portfolio and build a customer relation. The pay package ranges from Rs. 1.5 lacs to Rs. 2 lacs approx.

NCFM and AMFI certifications can be taken by anybody. There are no restrictions of age or qualifications for anyone to take these Tests. These certification tests are automated online examinations conducted on computer. One does not need any prior knowledge of computers to be able to take the test.

Conclusion:

Mutual Fund industry provides huge job opportunities and has tremendous scope for making a career in mutual funds. ASSOCHAM says ‘MF industry is slated to grow at 30% to Rs. 9.50 lakh crore by 2010′.