Overview
Nathan Lear studied a Bachelor of Arts/Commerce at Deakin’s Burwood Campus and now works as Private Client Adviser at Hewison Private Wealth. Nathan shares his experiences finding work in financial planning and his belief that ‘the harder you work, the luckier you get’.
Career path and highlights
Deakin alumnus, Nathan Lear always had an interest in business and investing. However, it wasn’t until he studied financial planning that he decided to pursue a career in this area.
‘I remember hearing from my lecturer that the demand for financial planning would be quite strong due to the superannuation system. So that’s what drove me to pursue this’, says Nathan.
Having begun his career with a graduate role at ANZ, Nathan soon realised that he didn’t want to work at a big institution.
‘I wanted to work at a smaller firm where I could get exposure to more and choose what I want to do’, says Nathan.
Nathan’s role at ANZ did not involve financial planning, so to get exposure to this area of work he took on further study and moved to another firm where he could explore this area further.
Nathan is now a Private Client Adviser at Hewison Private Wealth and has received numerous awards for his outstanding work. When asked what guiding principles have helped him to succeed, Nathan says, ‘The first thing that comes to mind is hard work. The harder you work the luckier you get.’
For students looking to work in this area, Nathan recommends getting as much experience as possible. He says, ‘Get work experience whether paid or unpaid. University gives you the grounding but doesn’t give you the experience. Go outside the normal channels by asking someone you know or jumping on Google and reaching out to the smaller, boutique financial planning firms.’