Of a recent analysis of 77 positions currently available on seek.com.au (as at 20th January 2016) the average salary for a Paraplanner was $67,250 with over 580 people applying for the available 77 paraplanning positions.
There were many combinations to choose from when it came down to the specific job requirements, some positions called for a Senior Paraplanner who’s role was to complete complex statement of advice documents. While other roles were a combination of customer service and paraplanning or even completing the initial interview with the client and data gathering and then data entry into the advice practices paraplanning software.
One important aspect of the roles that were available was most positions called for a working knowledge of either Xplan, COIN or Midwinter sofware. Each of these software packages offer different solutions for the advice practice and typically require the paraplanner to have a number of years experience with the software to become proficient with how they work.
The available para-planning positions were also spread across both corporate roles and private advertisers (smaller boutique practices) looking for paraplanners. Both offer different experiences and benefits to a Para-planner and it is important to think carefully about what type of organisation before applying for the role.
The career progression for a paraplanner is also quite varied, where you can move to a financial advising (client facing) role or consider contract paraplanning and giving yourself the ability to work from home (or anywhere really) as and when it suits you. Either way take the time to really consider where you want to be in 5 years and believe in yourself, mold your future to suit you, not the other way around.
If you are an experienced Paraplanner and want to learn more about becoming a Freelance Paraplanner you can learn more here – How to become a Freelance Paraplanner