Mary has always loved helping people.
In college she studied finance and personal training, which might not seem connected at first glance, but to her, they actually shared a common thread: Both subjects gave her the knowledge to help other people achieve their goals.
When she graduated and heard about the opportunity to become a Customer Relationship Advocate at Fidelity, she knew she had found a job that would let her put her love of helping people achieve goals into action, and set her up for a great career path.
Mary’s new role caters both to her passions and her future ambitions—and she loves it. We spoke with her to get a better sense of what makes the role so great. Here’s what she told us.
1. Helping People Achieve Their Financial Goals
“It’s something I’ve always really enjoyed doing, taking care of finances,” Mary says.
In her role at Fidelity, she’s accomplishing just that. Customer Relationship Advocates are the first representatives at Fidelity to speak with customers calling in and asking questions about how to navigate their accounts and explore new services.
“I’ve always liked helping people achieve their goals,” Mary explains. “It started as a personal trainer helping people reach their fitness goals. Knowing that you are helping others make their dreams come true is very rewarding for the client and myself.”
Helping people plan for their futures is at the heart of the Customer Relationship Advocate role, too—and Mary couldn’t be more suited to the task.
2. Managers, Mentors, and a Community
A manager can make or break your experience anywhere, even at your dream job. But for Mary, her managers are actually the best part of her experience at Fidelity. They all care about her long-term growth.
“Even if they’re not directly my manager,” Mary tells us, “they’re available and eager to help me. If they’re in a different division of the company, I can still go sit and talk with them.”
Mary’s management team not only makes sure she’s prepared for her role with training and mentorship, they’re also asking her what she wants to do next and helping her to achieve that.
“They really care about you, which you don’t find at every company,” she says.
3. Building the Future She Wants
“Long-term, I see the role as a platform to become a financial advisor,” Mary says.
One of the ways she both works toward her future job and excels in her current one is the state-of-the-art training offered by Fidelity.
“There are a ton of learning opportunities. Really knowing how to approach a specific position and how to be successful in it is so valuable to me,” Mary says. Describing one of these methods, called “double-jacking,” Mary explains how she can plug into a phone call alongside an experienced colleague and witness first-hand, how the job is best performed.
“I get to listen to actual conversations that they’re having on the spot with customers, and see what they might run into,” she explains.
Beyond the in-person training she receives from managers, mentors, and colleagues, Mary can also learn online. Fidelity has built out an online platform that actually lets her prepare for possible opportunities at the company.
“Fidelity’s My Learning tool lets you look up other roles and access learning materials that will prepare you to progress in your career,” she says.
In addition to the online learning, Mary is given the opportunity to visit other departments, speak with managers, and shadow people in the role she hopes to have one day.
4. Community Service Matters At Fidelity
“Another thing is the volunteering. I’ve always cared about volunteering, and they give me a lot of options to do that,” Mary says.
Fidelity is committed to investing in the communities which they serve, and volunteering is one way of harnessing its employees’ know-how and passion to accomplish that goal. Some of the activities that Fidelity helps Mary get involved in are tutoring first graders, working at a local food bank, and helping a local elementary school build affordable projects and science experiments for the kids.
Unsurprisingly, the advisor in Mary is most attracted to working with students.
“My favorite so far is tutoring,” she says. “But there are a lot of opportunities depending on which group you choose.”
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Interested in helping others (and yourself) build a brighter future? Learn more about finance and Fidelity on the WayUp blog!
