Why Join The Externship?
Wondering whether The Externship is the right place for you? Here are five reasons to invest in yourself and your career with our virtual summer training program.
Externship Benefit #1: Experience Daily Life As a Financial Planner
One of the biggest challenges with traditional financial planning courses and textbooks is that they don’t really allow you to get a feel for what it’s like to work as a financial planner.
Reading about theoretical clients and contrived financial scenarios with simple answers doesn’t adequately prepare you for the complexities and diversity of real-world client situations.
You need the chance to think critically, practice creative problem-solving, and collaborate with your peers to work your way through challenging financial planning problems.
The Externship gives you the chance to do all of that and more! Every week, you’ll get to watch a video recording of a real client meeting — including “play-by-play” commentary from an experienced financial planner.
Then, you’ll have time to work on your homework assignments and create viable financial plans for these clients. And don’t worry, you’re not just doing all the work on your own. There are scheduled homework walkthroughs each week, giving you a chance to analyze your work and advance your planning skills.
“The program provides real-world examples that you will encounter in your career, but in the safety of fictional assignments.“ – Deborah
“…this is an extremely valuable experience that provides a holistic view of the financial planning profession by providing access to professionals in the industry, the opportunity to do the actual work that financial planners do, and to have questions answered about technical knowledge and the industry in general.” – Jessica
Externship Benefit #2: Hear From Dozens of Financial Professionals
In a traditional internship, you get to learn from the experienced planners in your firm. The Externship takes that idea and expands on it!
During the two months of The Externship, you’ll hear from more than 50 financial planning professionals and experts. You’ll get an inside look at how they do their work and their perspective on serving clients.
You’ll even get access to resources and deliverables provided by these experts — use them to complete your homework assignments and in your professional practice!
“This is a great opportunity to learn from a diverse group of planners. You get insight into several different firms, the way they operate, their target clients, what software they use, etc. Interning at one firm would never give you this much insight.” – Desiree
Externship Benefit #3: Build New Skills and Boost Your Credentials
As an extern, you’ll get to complete the homework assignments and build detailed financial plans like working planners do — with professional software! The Externship includes access to and training for several top financial planning programs:
- eMoney
- Morningstar
- Redtail
- Asset-Map
You’ll learn how to use these powerful platforms, giving you valuable experience you can list on your resume. Plus, you’ll have the chance to get eMoney certified at no additional cost!
“Highly recommend to any college student wanting to learn about financial planning software.” – Pattie
“The access to software programs has enhanced my knowledge of my future profession.” – Nicole
Externship Benefit #4: Learn From Home on Your Own Schedule
The Externship is a virtual program that takes place entirely online! You can join us for live sessions if it works for your schedule, but you aren’t required to be online at any particular time.
Everything is recorded and available when you need it, so you can work in the evenings, on weekends, or in short sessions throughout the day. That means you can still get the full Externship experience even if you’re working a full-time job, attending summer school, caring for family members, or participating in a traditional internship.
“I would again recommend this to others who have a busy lifestyle and would like to further their education as it relates to financial planning. This Externship program has allowed me to still work a normal job while completing the work needed from this program.” – Izaac
Externship Benefit #5: Make Progress Toward Your CFP® Certification
If you’re working toward becoming a Certified Financial Planner®, The Externship is an excellent opportunity. Completing the entire program and all the assignments earns 500 CFP Board Standard Pathway experience hours. (And yes, you can earn these hours again even if you have already attended The Externship in past years!)
How much work will you have to put in to earn those hours? Expect to spend approximately 15-25 hours per week to finish all the work. However, you get an extra month to finish everything up after The Externship officially ends.
As long as you complete everything and turn it in by the date we set each year (usually the last of August), you’ll get your 500 experience hours. And if you’re still in school, check with your university — The Externship fulfills internship requirements at many institutions!
“Excellent and thorough training to become a CFP® professional.” – Christine
“It’s a great way to acquire some useful experience which will help in ‘real life’ and which also counts toward the CFP Board requirement.” – John
Get 180 AFCPE Credit Hours, Too!
We have also partnered with the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education® — and now you can earn 180 credit hours towards your ACFPE certification!
Advance Your Financial Planning Career at The Externship
Every year, The Externship gets bigger and better, and it’s the perfect opportunity for you to level up your financial planning skills and credentials. Whether you’re still trying to decide whether financial planning is the right career for you or you’re an experienced planner looking for new perspectives and inspiration, The Externship is for you.
Because The Externship is an online, asynchronous program, you can complete it on your one time from the comfort of home. That means you can participate in The Externship even if you already have an internship, full-time job, or household management responsibilities this summer.
Make this the summer you invest in yourself and your career! Learn more about The Externship and see when doors open next!
