Sam Honey

I think I had five different majors by the end of college

I, unfortunately, started out exploring majors that I thought sounded cool. Maybe I liked the idea of studying a certain topic, but when it came to the coursework, I definitely didn't enjoy it. I eventually met a PhD student in the PFP program, and they persuaded me to meet with a few professors to discuss the major.

• PowerCat Financial Counseling
• Personal Financial Planning student group

My final semester of college, I completed an internship with a local company. I had reached out to them several months earlier about positions, but they weren't looking at the time. Later on, we reconnected through a professor. The job helped me to gain exposure to the field and figure out what kind of work I wanted to do.

I had networked with a guy who helped place college graduates with financial planning firms. I went through his process and he introduced me to the firm I'm at today. I had several phone interviews with the company and then drove out to St. Louis for a day full of interviews. Once I completed the process, it took 1-2 weeks; I had several interviews with my current firm after that and then a job offer two weeks later.

My workday is heavily influenced by client interaction. I come into work, look at my calendar at upcoming meetings, and then start pulling all the information and analyses together. In addition to meetings, there are a number of client requests that come outside of our regular meeting schedule.

Everyday there is an opportunity to learn something new. whether ti's from a client or a coworker, there is more to learn.

I think I came away from college knowing a lot about financial planning, but once I started interacting with the real-life situations, the knowledge gap became much more apparent.

Get as much experience as you can before you hit the job market. You want to have as clear a picture as possible of your future picture. The internship definitely helped.

Working very hard in college helped me to get a job at a great firm. I've alluded to this already, but having as many relevant experiences makes a huge difference.

We moved to St. Louis for this job. That has been an interesting adjustment. We've also added our second child.

It was nice to come home and not feel the pressure to study. That didn't last long... I started to prepare for the CFP examination shortly after I started working.

Getting married. It's been amazing. Regarding my professional career, working hard opened so many doors. It allowed me to connect with some great and helpful people.

I think it was a blessing to work closely with many professors. They are a great resource and are very willing to help.

Intro to Personal Financial Planning was a great class that really piqued my interest in the major.

The PFP faculty was very helpful during my time there, but Dr. Sonya Britt, in particular, was very helpful. She gave me so many opportunities - participating in research, getting the internship, etc.