Do you want to have a positive societal impact? How about helping people make sense of their money and make better financial decisions? What about inspiring people to take action and make meaningful changes?
If this resonates with you, we have a place for you on our journey to transform 1 million lives.
Becoming a Financial Coach with Octopus MoneyCoach is a flexible, rewarding and meaningful way to develop your self employed career whilst also helping others to achieve financial peace of mind.
We'll guide you through a training program that, upon completion, will enable you to work with us as an accredited self employed financial coach, using the support of our brand, HQ and technology to support your clients.
Our training programme is the first in the UK to be formally accredited by some of the best known external bodies in the personal finance industry including the London Institute of Banking and Finance, and the Initiative for Financial Wellbeing. Octopus MoneyCoach is also an associate member of the Personal Finance Society.
We are part of the entrepreneurial Octopus Group, and sister company of Octopus Energy. We are already making great progress on our mission to transform a million lives, we have helped thousands of people on their financial journey and we hope you can play a role in helping thousands more!
What is financial coaching?
Financial coaches help people to understand money and key financial concepts so that they are able to make better decisions that will help them to identify and progress towards their key life goals.
Our powerful planning tool and bespoke services allow our coaches to show how achievable those goals could be if they managed their money more effectively.
Whether it's budgeting, savings, investments, pensions, mortgages or life insurance, you can help and empower people to tackle their personal finances in the same way a personal trainer encourages their clients to hit their physical goals.
Coaches don't recommend products nor rely on hidden commissions. They simply get paid for their time, ensuring that the interests of you and your clients are always aligned.
Like all forms of coaching, financial coaching is not a regulated activity. However, as a business we are FCA regulated and are committed to helping coaches to provide their services professionally and to the highest standard.
How will I work?
As a self-employed financial coach, you will work from home, helping clients mainly via phone and video chat (including screen share).
You'll build your bank of clients from within your own community and existing personal and professional networks. In addition, you can choose to receive bookings from employees at companies where Octopus MoneyCoach is offered as an employee benefit – including Sony, Experian and MoneySuperMarket, just to name a few.
Your hours and earnings will depend on your availability, your success helping your clients achieve their goals, and the level of demand you and Octopus MoneyCoach can generate.
What training do you offer?
Our training programme is a fully remote, distance learning course which requires a minimum of 20 hours a week, lasting between 4-8 weeks, commencing on Tuesday the 9th May.
The training is a combination of online learning (all things personal finance), and practical coaching training.
If accepted onto the training programme you will be assigned a mentor who will guide you through the programme, ensuring you learn all the necessary financial information and soft coaching skills to set you up for success from the start.
During training you are not paid until accreditation, but it doesn't cost you anything other than time. All we require is that you can dedicate a minimum 20 hours per week for the training programme.
During training we'll ask you to find up to 10 volunteers to practice what you're learning. This will help you use your skills in a real life scenario and communicate the value of financial coaching. 10 is not a hard target as quality is more important than quantity, but we've found finding 10 people gives you the best opportunity to become accredited. If a client would then like to sign up to the full financial coaching subscription with you, they will be offered a 50% discount and you will keep 100% of the earnings from anyone you sign during this period.
Requirements
You don't need to be a financial whizz to apply to be a financial coach. We will teach you everything you need to know about personal finance - from pensions and investments to mortgages and insurance, and anything else.
However, you do need to have an inquisitive mind, you should be comfortable with numbers and have an interest in personal finance, and an exceptional desire to make a positive difference to peoples' lives.
You will have:
- At least 4+ years' work experience demonstrating the ability to understand complex ideas
- The ability to commit a minimum of 20 hours per week to training and practising as a coach once accredited
- The capacity to meet with 5 new clients per week as minimum, once accredited.
- A deep desire to make a positive impact, perhaps evidenced through voluntary work
- Exceptional empathy, communication, analytical and influencing skills
- Familiarity with investing, pensions and mortgages - or at least a strong interest in learning
- Comfort in building relationships and sourcing new clients through any media - phone, email, video chat or face to face
- Bonus points for a qualification from a financial body (CeMAP, ICA, CII etc)
You must be able to work from home in a quiet environment, with good webcam, phone and internet access.
What's in it for me?
Financial coaching allows you to develop and use a wide set of skills to change lives for the better, all the while working remotely and flexibly.
As an experienced accredited financial coach, you'll have many possible future career paths - either with Octopus or elsewhere in the financial services industry. You might focus on building your coaching business, or you could transition to leadership and mentorship roles with Octopus. If you'd like to become a fully-fledged financial adviser down the line, your experience working with clients would be an invaluable asset.
You will be paid monthly through your own limited company or as a sole trader.
Currently, average earnings for a year 1 coach is approx. £25,000 to £35,000 if working full time. Year 2 average is £35,000 to £40,000. In addition, we're looking to introduce additional opportunities for coaches to increase their earnings in the near future.
How do I get involved?
Stage 1 - Submit an application. Top tip - please ensure to state why you are interested - it's important to show you are truly motivated in becoming a coach.
Stage 2 - The next stage is a longer, written application with some key competencies to show you have the attributes that make a great coach.
Stage 3 - If successful you will be invited to a 1:1 competency-based interview and view a webinar hosted by the coaching team to get a feel for the training.
Stage 4 - Offer and contracts!
Application deadline: 20th April 2023
Expected start date: 9th May 2023
If this start date isn't suitable, please still register your interest. We have cohorts starting every other month.
We believe in equal financial education for everybody, no matter their background. We pride ourselves on building an inclusive working environment where diversity is celebrated.
We do not and never will discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.