When RIAs are recruiting junior advisors, sometimes they find that the best candidates don’t have the deepest financial market savvy.

Certainly, pursuing some form of certification — like the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP^®) designation — is a good place to start for prospective candidates. “It just makes you so much more marketable, so much more hirable because you bring a specific skill set,” says Karl Wagner, senior wealth advisor at Biondo Investment Advisors.

But often a candidate’s soft skills can tip the scales for RIAs making hiring decisions.

Emotional savvy is key

When it comes to filling entry-level advisor roles, some RIAs value a candidate’s ability to make an emotional connection with clients over deep financial knowledge. Seasoned professionals can always teach the technical aspects of the job, but would-be advisors should also demonstrate an ability to immediately begin building relationships.

“There’s a seed in new hires that needs to be there,” says Richard Rosso, director of financial planning at RIA Advisors. “You really have to have the ability to step into somebody else’s shoes, to evoke an emotion, to listen.”

Rosso looks for that vital skill every time he interviews candidates. How do they engage with him during a conversation? Do they ask good, inquisitive questions as well as listen to the interviewer? Do they demonstrate an interest in other people? “They need to be curious about how other people live, about other people’s stories,” he says. “You’ve got to have that ability.”

Connecting with clients counts

Technology has enabled new forms of connection, but it can be a double-edged sword when it comes to building long-lasting client relationships. Developing and maintaining those relationships generally doesn’t work well when the primary means of communication is electronic. “We hire people that are Gen-X, and they just want to communicate by email,” Rosso says. “We have to get them to call on the phone.”

It can be a tall order to beat experience in challenging client-facing roles, even in relatively modest jobs. For example, a position dealing directly with brokerage customers could help distinguish one trainee RIA candidate from another. That’s because such roles often involve dealing with people unhappy about the service they received.

“If they [can] handle the front desk, to me, that’s great,” Rosso adds. “If you’re handling those problems well, that tells me a lot about how you’re willing to serve other people.” 

But not every role is client-facing

While emotional intelligence and connection are key in customer-facing roles, there are still positions for those with different skill sets.

Biondo Investment Advisors has an investment analysis team focused on examining financial statements and making specific recommendations on stock purchases. But at least some of those people will never meet the customers. “We have a portfolio manager who’s a partner; I won’t let him in front of clients,” Wagner says. “Mostly my team and I handle the relationship side of the equation. We’re the ones sitting down with people and getting to know their children.”

The segmentation of roles — those focused on client relationships and those where technical skills rank higher — has worked well at Biondo. Wagner adds, “It’s a rare individual who can do both.”