How being a Fidelity financial customer associate can supercharge your associate’s degree and your career

The financial customer associate role is great for graduates from diverse backgrounds with associate degrees. “We don’t look for prior finance experience,” said Barry, talent acquisition partner. “It’s a great entry-level role for people coming out of school.”

“It’s a great entry-level role for people coming out of school.”

As a Fidelity financial customer associate, you’ll be doing work that matters by helping our 401(k) customers save for their retirement. That means resetting passwords, providing customers with account balances, moving funds, and answering their more complex questions. You’ll be doing good for others, which feels good for you, in an inclusive and supportive environment. That feels even better.

Why you should become a Fidelity financial customer associate

Here are four reasons why you should work as a financial customer associate at Fidelity.

1. Fidelity’s culture sets up graduates with associate degrees and diverse backgrounds for success
   Fidelity’s inclusive, diverse culture means you’ll have the support you need and will feel like you belong from day one. Our culture feels welcoming and open as Christian, a financial customer associate, describes: “Everyone’s on the same page culture-wise; kind and friendly. They’re open to giving advice or helping you out or just telling you about their job.”

2. Fidelity seamlessly integrates associate degree holders and those from diverse backgrounds into our larger team
   Whether you have a business/finance degree or not, you’re welcome here. “We care about our employees, and we really want to see you succeed professionally and personally,” said Barry. “Fidelity associates come from all walks of life and from every academic level, from associate’s degrees to PhDs. That sort of diversity helps make Fidelity successful.” While a business or finance degree might be helpful, it’s not required to work at Fidelity.

   “How many community college graduates there are at Fidelity blew my mind. People are around my age, doing the same thing as me, and going on to get their bachelor’s degree,” said Christian.

3. Fidelity offers financial customer associates meaningful work and professional growth in a finance career
   Fidelity’s financial customer associate role centers around helping people and developing relationships. “If you like relationship building and are interested in finance, apply for this role,” said Barry. “It’s a great place to start and to grow from.”

   Fidelity’s financial customer associate role gives you a path for professional learning and development. As a community college graduate, you’re probably no stranger to a desire to learn and grow. 

   “I went to community college myself. The education I got at my community college is unmatched,” said Barry. “Everyone who was there wanted to be there. When I was in the classroom, every single person’s taking notes, paying attention, and trying to get an education.” At Fidelity, you’ll be part of a learning-focused organization that’s similar in spirit to your community college.

4. Being a Fidelity financial customer associate helps you advance your finance career
   “The most important thing about being a financial customer associate at Fidelity is career growth,” said Christian. “Fidelity does a great job of educating you on everything we do at the firm and all the opportunities we have for you.”

   As a Fidelity financial customer associate, you’ll be part of our Workplace Investing business unit. “Workplace investing is at the core of what we do,” said Barry. “This business unit is massive. It’s a great place to start your career.”
    
   Our Workplace Investing department helps employers and their employees with retirement savings, health savings accounts (HSAs), equity management, and more. Being a financial customer associate gives you a launchpad to more advanced roles, with unique challenges and opportunities in workplace investing and at Fidelity. 

   “You can go on to the next job and not stagnate,” said Christian. Your job could transition into an HSA, high net worth, or workplace advisor role. Or you could earn Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Series 7 and 63 licenses. “Licensing is a huge, huge opportunity,” said Barry.

“You can go on to the next job and not stagnate.”

How Fidelity helps financial customer associates from diverse backgrounds break into finance without prior experience

Fidelity provides fully paid financial customer associate training for any background, including no finance experience

Fidelity’s fully paid training for financial customer associates lasts 14 weeks (about three months) and takes a holistic view of retirement investing. It’s the ideal launchpad for community college graduates from diverse backgrounds with any type of associate degree. “You don’t need financial experience, because you start off with the basics, like what the types of retirement accounts are; what the laws and taxes are,” said Christian.

“We don’t look for any specific academic degree. All academic backgrounds can apply to and succeed in this role,” said Barry. “At the end of the day, we’re looking for people who want to learn.”

If you have a business or finance associate degree, you’ll be able to put what you learned in school to use in the real world. You could transition into sales, analytics, or operations roles.

If you have a service background in retail, hospitality, or healthcare, or a communications background in coaching, teaching, tutoring, marketing, or psychology, you’ll make an excellent candidate for the financial customer associate role. “We communicate with a lot of people, and that’s a key factor in the job. These kinds of degrees would be particularly good for customer interaction,” said Christian.

Fidelity gives you on-the-job professional growth through coaching and mentorship

During your training and beyond, you have access to real-time coaching and mentorship. “You have peer guides and managers listening as you talk to customers, and they can help you out and lead you in the right direction,” said Christian. “They help you learn in real time and grow your habits.”

“You have peer guides and managers listening as you talk to customers, and they can help you out and lead you in the right direction.”

Once you’re past training, you can connect with leaders within your team, and outside it too. “Mentorship is a huge part of Fidelity and starts at the top. Leaders dedicate time every single week for you to network and be mentored,” said Barry. Whether you want to have a quick informational interview with another team lead or transition to a new role, there’s someone to help guide you along the right path.

Our Career Center is another employee resource dedicated to helping Fidelity associates maximize their potential. It offers resume help and interview training as well as workshops to help you navigate your career path. “It’s built into the business. We give you time to meet recruiters and hiring managers,” said Barry. You’ll get insider knowledge to help you achieve your career goals.

Fidelity helps you with student loan repayment on associate’s degrees and tuition assistance for bachelor’s degrees

Earning degrees beyond high school can make a significant difference to your annual earnings. According to data, here’s how degrees can increase your annual salary:

• 18% higher for associate degree holders compared to high school graduates
• 35% higher for bachelor’s degrees than associate’s degrees
• 20% higher for master’s or higher degrees than bachelor’s degrees

While the cost of community college is typically lower than a four-year school’s, and many community college students work, about 12% of two-year students owe student loans. The cost and stress of student loan repayments can take a toll. “If you have loans from community college, no worries. We’ll help you pay off those loans over time,” said Barry. If you have student loans, you’ll be able to repay them faster so you can save for other goals, such as a down payment or starting a family.

“If you want to get your four-year degree, great. We’re going to help you pay for that,” said Barry. Fidelity’s educational assistance program helps you progress in your education and your career. 

“If you want to get your four-year degree, great. We’re going to help you pay for that.”

“I’m planning to get my bachelor’s degree in business management, with a finance minor, through Fidelity’s reimbursement program so I can grow my career within the company. If I were at a different company, I wouldn’t have the same tuition support,” said Christian. With Fidelity by your side, you can advance your degree with our education assistance program. Getting a higher degree could help you advance your career—and your potential future earnings.

How being a Fidelity financial customer associate helps you improve your personal finances

Let’s face it—investing is complex. That’s why our training program is 14 weeks long. But the best thing about the training is that it doesn’t just help you on the job, it helps you in your personal life as well.

“We teach you about how workplace investing accounts and retail accounts work,” said Barry. “You can really apply it to your everyday life and your personal finance journey.” 

Christian said, “We learn how to invest and how taxes work. That helps you and your family out. Retirement wasn’t really a priority for me until now. Now I know how I need to set myself up for success so I can retire when and how I want.”

Fidelity’s total compensation package helps you achieve financial security through a competitive salary and top-notch benefits. “Our benefits are world class,” said Barry. “We pretty much have the best of the best when it comes to 401(k) matching.” Check out our full suite of benefits and why our employees love them.

“Our benefits are world class.”

Find your Fidelity as a financial customer associate today

If you have an associate’s degree and are looking for a job that gives you a chance to advance your career through ample professional growth opportunities and puts you on a path to increase your lifetime earning potential, it’s time you found your Fidelity as a financial customer associate. Search for current openings here.