It’s such a great feeling when you know you’ve really supported someone to achieve their goal.
In this series of ‘Journey to Adviser’, Ryan Snowball, talks about his unique journey to Adviser. We are so proud of Ryan and wish him every success in life.
About your journey
Becoming a Financial Adviser was always a bit of a dream of mine, as I have seen my Dad do it since the day I was born, and always wanted to follow in his footsteps.
But due to it not being the easiest career to get started in I went down the engineering route upon leaving school. After being an engineer for 8 years I decided I had had enough and wanted to pursue my dream of becoming an independent financial adviser. So, whilst working nights at an engineering company I started studying for the R01 exam, and after two months of study I finally passed the R01 first time.
Upon passing I left my job and went to work with my Dad as a Trainee Financial Adviser.
Whilst a trainee I managed to do the remaining 5 exams in 7 months before becoming fully qualified. This was incredibly intense but definitely worth it.
Once I had more time to study, I got into a rhythm with the exams and tried to sit one every 6 weeks. I also found when getting to R06, because I had done the exams in a relatively short time frame, I had retained most of the previous exams allowing me to apply my knowledge to the R06 exam easier.
What was your first impression of the study platform?
Following my discovery of the Redmill Advance platform, I instantly preferred how the study programme was presented and structured in comparison with the CII textbooks.
There was a clear outline on the areas that needed to be focussed on, which allowed me to spend the majority of my time on the areas which had the most marks allowing me to study efficiently and effectively.
Also, as Redmill Advance allow you to ‘message the instructor’ at any point in your study so it was a major help when needing additional detail on a subject or more clarification.
How did the platform and different learning materials, help you to study?
As opposed to just reading the CII textbook, Redmill emphasised on what needed to be learnt and understood.
The use of bold writing, tips and text with ‘remember’ really allowed me to embed the key points which came up in the exams as well as the mock exams.
As I wanted to do the exams as quickly as possible, Redmill focused on where the marks were. So, I didn’t waste time reading a chapter that may have only had 1 or 2 marks. Even though it may look like some areas were briefly touched upon, this was positive as the material is concentrated on the chapters with 6,7 and 8 marks.
Also, when doing mock exams you can ‘hone’ in on the areas where you need more support. Using the study platform, I could revisit the subject which I was finding difficult allowing me to deepen my understanding on the subject.
How did you find the weekly structure of each module?
The weekly structure was a major help to me, as I had a goal each week and a clear picture on what needed to be done.
The weekly structures were also manageable to fit into the rest of my daily schedule.
It also took away the old-fashioned study method of just reading a textbook, which I tried originally, but that method did not work for me.
What support did you get from Redmill?
I received countless support from Redmill, from messaging the instructor to classroom training days.
I also received a lot of support from the Redmill Team, who I spoke to before sitting any exams. They provided me with support on exams and a route to go down. They also provided me with a free training day with Daniel Armitage for my R05 exam for doing all my previous exams with Redmill Advance.
I have had many discussions with Redmill also on becoming chartered and a path to do down. Which I appreciate massively and look forward to using Redmill for my chartered studies too.
I have also done the CF6 exam by using Redmill, and ER1.
Would you recommend using Redmill? If so, why?
I would 100% recommend Redmill Advance, which I already have done to another colleague who has used Redmill throughout his journey. He only has one R0 remaining until he holds the diploma in financial planning.
The reason why I recommended Redmill to him was, it makes studying for the diploma a lot more bearable and fun. I got handed a CII textbook to study from before discovering Redmill, and with that method, I feel the exams would have been incredibly harder to study for. It also would have been a lot more time-consuming, with time I didn’t have.
Redmill literally cut to the core of what needs to be learnt.
Also, before deciding to become a Financial Adviser I had not done an exam in 10 years, my last exam being in school, so the learning structure was a massive help to me.
I have advised Redmill to many other colleagues who are Financial Advisers, and they all expressed they wish something like Redmills study platform and the material was available to them many years ago when the R0 exams became mandatory.
The staff at Redmill are also incredibly helpful, and I know by recommending them to anyone they would be in great hands. I received countless support from the team which I am incredibly grateful for and could not have done it in the time frame I have without Redmill.
Thanks
Ryan Snowball, DipPFS – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-snowball-dippfs-b5999b20a
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