I was very interested in becoming a personal financial planner upon graduation and wanted to learn more about the process of becoming one, and what the job looks like on a day-to-day basis. Skylight provided exactly that - the internship was set up in a way that would allow me to return to Skylight as a full-time financial planner post-graduation with 3 months of experience. We went through all the same training and practice as new hires go through, and even started making class to people we would potentially want to do business with.
What I wish was different
I wish we would have had more opportunities to work directly with the financial planners. We were able to attend client meetings with planners, but it would have been really cool to see the background work that happens in preparation for a meeting as well as the work that is addressed afterwards.
Advice
If you think you are interested in becoming a personal financial planner, consider this internship. It gave me every opportunity to expose myself to any part of the financial planning industry. I learned a ton during the process, and if you do decide to become a planner upon graduation this experience will set you up perfectly.
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Financial Planning Intern
May - August 2019 • Cleveland, OH
What I liked
Skylight offered extensive resources that helped me learn and grow professionally throughout the internship.
What I wish was different
I wish that there was better communication leading up to the beginning of the internship.
Advice
Skylight is a great place to start your professional career. They teach you how to network more efficiently and work with you to become ready to start your financial services career.
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Personal Financial Planner Intern
May - August 2019 • Dublin, OH
What I liked
Great people to work with and very valuable information is taught during the course of the internship. It also was flexible hours. I was able to grow my network by a very large amount.
What I wish was different
I wish that I could have understood the contract requirements for a full time position better before writing business during my internship.
Advice
Be ready to step out of your comfort zone. There will be networking and relationship building. This internship in a way forces you to contact people from your past that you may not have talked to in a long time. I saw this as a great opportunity to grow old relationships and even just to catch up with old friends.
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Financial Planning Intern
May - August 2018 • Cincinnati, OH
What I liked
The continuous training throughout the internship is top-notch, and you are sitting with junior planners learning along with them. All interns have a manager they report to and Ryan Arey was one of the best guys I have ever met, he really took things to a personal level with each intern and made sure we were comfortable.
What I wish was different
The internship had a small monthly stipend ($500) with unlimited potential to earn commission - that being said, no intern in the entire program had ever earned commission or made a single sale. The program focused heavily on calling family and friends to conduct "Financial Services Interviews" rather than learning how to find leads and what to say to them when you do. I wish interns had better opportunities to shadow senior planners in the firm and to learn straight from meetings with clients rather than hypothetical situations and learning videos.
Advice
The firm as a whole has a genuine mission to help others and educate the general population about financial services - curbing the stigma that we are in the same category as pushy salespeople. Everyone was welcoming and always helpful whenever the need arose, there just was not a lot of potential to make real money. The stress of getting paid very little with bills and expenses funneling through made the job hard to stay at.
