Last year's Paraplanner of the Year winner Jane Holt has shared her tips for this year's entrants.
Applications for this year's award, which is run by the Institute of Financial Planning and sponsored by Parmenion, are now open for entries until 6 September.
Ms Holt is director and Paraplanner at Mackenzie Financial Planning in Bury.
The application consists of technical questions to test knowledge, a reference or testimonial from an adviser entrants work with and a written piece of work.
Ms Holt said the first part that entrants should tackle was the technical questions as correct answers could give a confidence boost and spur entrants on to completing the rest of the application.
However, it is vital to make sure that entrants brushed up on general Financial Planning, taxation and product knowledge before attempting the questions.
For the 1,000 word essay, Ms Holt reassured entrants that 1,000 words was usually less than a Financial Planning report and therefore it needed to be concise.
As well as being concise, essays should be memorable, highlight an unusual topic and evidence examples of previous work.
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The two topics for the essay are either the importance of Paraplanning in attracting new entrants to Financial Planning or how the Paraplanner supports the delivery of Financial Planning to clients.
Finally, entrants should cite their strengths and benefits of their work to the person providing their testimonial to highlight why they deserve the title of Paraplanner of the Year. She also pointed out that, as well as being beneficial to the Paraplanner, the award would bring valuable PR and attention to the whole firm.
Ms Holt said: "As winner of the 2012 award, I would encourage Paraplanners to enter. Of course, winning was a fantastic experience, and provided an enormous boost to both my confidence and my career.
"But the process of entering and going through the three stages was also valuable; it gave me, as a Paraplanner in a small firm, a real sense of where I was in the Financial Planning world beyond my four walls, and gave me the opportunity for personal development in a way quite different to the exams and seminars common to our profession."
To enter the award, click here http://www.financialplanning.org.uk/paraplanner-year-ppoty

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