Pros
Lots of opportunities to move forward. Management really tries to make the environment supportive and fun and retention is the priority at the banking centre level. They pay for most of your credentials, which opens a lot of doors and career advancement opportunities. CIBC is changing the way they want clients to view them, and it’s less of a product push than it was a couple of years ago. They want the client to be the centre of the conversation, and targets are based on client relationship and customer experience surveys instead of the number of products you sell. This is one of the things I noticed and really liked, because I felt less like a salesman and more like a financial advisor. The mutual fund offerings are also very competitive, and in a market where ETFs are becoming more popular it’s really nice to see the mutual fund portfolios outperforming similarly allocated ETF’s and other FI’s mutual funds.
Cons
Experience is very much based on the branch you work at. The compensation is low considering the amount of work expected out of you, and as a Senior FSR you are often looked to when there’s a problem that needs to be fixed so you spend time doing things that never reflect on your performance. Also there’s a big push to make outbound calls to clients, which more often than not is taken as a negative by the client. This is starting to change, but still something that sucks. All that being said, the biggest issue is the amount you’re paid vs the amount of work you do.