About five years ago, the complaint was common: "I've got my diploma-a degree in personal financial planning-but I can't find meaningful work in the financial services industry. Owners of independent firms won't let me interact with clients, and the wirehouses just stick me in a room with a telephone."

Now there are signs of change (among independents, anyway). New jobs have emerged that are more to the liking of these young, would-be advisors, and even more important is that attitudes have changed within the ownership class. Veteran firm owners have been told repeatedly by practice management consultants that their people are their most important assets, people whose care and feeding is essential to everyone's growth. And they've been told that the success of their firms will coincide with the success of the individuals who make it up-from the principals on down to the lowliest paraplanner and administrator.

Yet, not all is hunky-dory; it's merely improved. Young graduates still sometimes ask for more money than advisory firm veterans are willing to pay, and owners still have their newest entrants doing menial work-at least part of the time.

So to see how far apart these two groups really are, I conducted an experiment. With the help of Deena Katz, a principal at Evensky & Katz of Coral Gables, Fla., and an associate professor at Texas Tech University, I paired three soon-to-graduate Texas Tech financial planning students with three veteran firm owners to see how far apart they would be in a silent negotiating process. The three students were each shown the Web site of these prominent advisory firms to learn about their owners, personnel and client services, and the students were then asked to chart their own ideal career paths were each to go to work for his or her appointed firm. The business owners were then shown the résumés of their selected students and directed to design career paths for those individuals within their companies. Salary offers and expectations were part of the deal.

Here's what we learned.

Alex Carracedo is fairly typical as one of today's young university-trained advisors. At 23, he's attained his bachelor's degree in business administration and finance (from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas), he's interned in a few planning shops, and he'll soon graduate from Texas Tech University in Lubbock with a Master of Science degree in personal financial planning. The firm we assigned to Carracedo was John Henry McDonald's Austin Asset Management in the Texas capital.

"I knew of the firm before," says Carracedo, "and had been very impressed with it. I met Eric [Hehman, Austin's CEO,] at one of the Austin FPA's annual career days, and wouldn't mind having him as a mentor."

Hehman is young himself. In fact, ten to 15 years ago he was just Carracedo: an aspiring planner, new to the industry, who was trying to identify the right firm to work for and get his start in. Carracedo noted how encouraging it is to see younger planners enjoying high-level responsibilities within advisory firms.

How would Carracedo see himself progressing in a firm like McDonald's? "I'd see myself having a paraplanner role first ... getting exposure to the entire firm." Does that mean he expects to interact with clients from the start? Says Carracedo, "Many students want that interaction immediately, but realistically I can see that Mr. McDonald has worked hard to build his firm and probably doesn't want to expose his clients to someone in my position right away. I would expect to have some kind of interaction with clients after three to four years."

As a paraplanner, Carracedo sees himself working in the back office and assisting teams with client support. "After four to five years, I would see being a financial planner, working with some clients and maybe bringing in some clients. At the seven-to-eight year point, I would want to know if I'm en route to being a partner or having an ownership stake ... after I've proven myself."

Perhaps Carracedo's confidence and realistic attitude stem from his two internships. As an undergraduate, he interned with Gary Silverman, owner of the one-man Wichita Falls shop Personal Money Planning. "This was tremendous exposure," says Carracedo. "My job included filling out forms, scanning and working on a job task analysis for the firm, but Gary's willingness to answer any and all questions was invaluable. I could ask him about anything I was reading and learning about. He was an excellent sounding board."

As a graduate student, Carracedo spent time at Quest Capital Management in Dallas, a 30-person firm. "I saw both sides of the spectrum [large and small]. At Quest, I sat in on lots of client meetings as a fly on the wall and got to see what really goes on. We'd talked about client meetings in the classroom, but this was a firsthand opportunity to see how an advisor delivers a plan and adds value to the client relationship."

And then I asked him the sticky question ... how much do you expect Austin to pay you? "Most students at Texas Tech expect average starting salaries in the $40,000 to $50,000 range. Some get more, some get less. A lower starting salary might be offered in a job that eventually leads to a partnership opportunity, or a higher starting salary might lead nowhere. So I'd look at the nature of the opportunity." In other words, Carracedo would probably expect somewhere around the average. (Interestingly, a "Level 3 Paraprofessional," according to the 2007 Moss Adams Compensation Survey, earns a median salary of $55,000.)

Let's see if any of his expectations are in line with what Austin would offer Carracedo.

McDonald, Austin's founder and president, pointed out first that Carracedo is a master's student. "We'd probably get a year out of him, assuming he hasn't gotten his CFP yet." McDonald's attitude is cautious because most business owners have to make a choice: to select either highly educated people who can be retrained or people with less education who can be shaped. Added McDonald, "We might need to get him out of bad habits into good habits. We're life planners here; the new employee needs to understand how we expect them to work."

That said, the career path McDonald would offer is strikingly similar to the one Carracedo expected. "He'd start with a two-year internship as a paraplanner in a support role," McDonald says. "On day one, he would sit in client meetings as part of a collaborative team. While his job might consist of making copies and taking notes, his observations would be his most important contribution."

McDonald would expect Carracedo to note how the other team members performed as well as create "action notes," which tell the team, "Here's what we need to do for this client." Carracedo would also be responsible for planning software data input so that when the team's financial planner pulls up the client file, it's 80% to 90% accurate. "We're looking for close to perfection, but not perfection," says McDonald. "The team's financial planner should be able to make initial, rough recommendations for the client from these data [that Carracedo has entered.]"

After 18 months (or the time required to pass the CFP exam), McDonald says Carracedo would be promoted to a financial planner role on his team for another 18 to 24 months. "He wouldn't be a lead planner, but he would help design a book of business. Initially, he'd be with easier clients, maybe those with $1 million to $2 million of fairly liquid assets. Ultimately, he'd be responsible for 50 to 60 clients representing more financially-and emotionally-sophisticated cases."

Carracedo expects to earn $40,000 to $50,000 as a paraplanner. McDonald says he'd offer him $45,000 to $48,000 to start. (Do I get a finder's fee for this?)

Amanda Newton is a 21-year-old undergrad at Texas Tech with a 4.0 grade point average and an expected graduation month of December 2008. Her degree will be a Bachelor of Science in personal financial planning.

We paired her up with Burns Advisory Group, represented by Tim Courtney of Burns' Oklahoma office. Newton knows that a Web site is only a starting point in judging a career opportunity at an advisory firm, since it tells her nothing about employee benefits, financial assistance for professional development, mentoring opportunities, etc.

Besides these things, she says, "I also was curious about the firm's succession plan, as this would drastically impact the role I would see myself in at the firm." Good point. Knowing the employer's succession plan is one way of determining what opportunities, if any, the student will have for ownership. Newton adds, "One of the key steps in maintaining healthy client-advisor relationships involves managing expectations; this is just as important in the relationship between an employer and an employee." In perceiving this, she shows a maturity perhaps beyond her years.

From her review of Burns Advisory Group's Web site, Newton would see herself joining the firm in an entry-level position-for which she would ask a salary of $40,000-and pursuing her CFP, an effort she hopes the firm would support financially. She would like the opportunity to be mentored by the firm's principals-John Burns, Paul Hynes and/or Thomas McGuigan. "The financial planning industry has evolved to produce successful firms across the country, so I see no need to reinvent the wheel by opening up my own firm. I would much rather be trained in a successful firm, learn the firm's client base, gain experience in the industry, pursue advanced business management education and then be able to smooth the transition of the principals into retirement."

Newton also considered whether her own investment and financial planning philosophies jibed with those of Burns as she read about the firm's client services on its Web site. "That's of utmost importance when considering a firm at which to build a career," says Newton. "I checked out a couple of the firm's newsletters and was impressed to see that the firm has an investment committee that meets weekly."

Apparently, Newton is more concerned about picking the firm that's a good fit than knowing up front the exact timetable for her advancement. Tim Courtney at Burns, however, offered one.

"For the first six months, we would have Amanda working with our operations manager to familiarize her with our operating systems and with our chief investment officer to allow her to become comfortable working with our portfolio systems. During the next six months and after becoming proficient with our systems, we would want Amanda to begin working on planning issues that arise with clients. She would start to gain experience working with planning software and models and by creating presentations. In addition, she would be analyzing and researching various projects the firm is engaged in for clients and business growth," Courtney says.

For the next several years, Burns would employ Newton as an assistant to a portfolio manager, and her job would be to meet with clients, to address and solve planning issues and to maintain and monitor each client's investment portfolio. Says Courtney, "During this time, she would sit in on our investment committee meetings and be expected to further her industry education by obtaining designations such as the CFA or CIMA, for which the company would cover expenses."

Newton will have "arrived" when she ultimately becomes a portfolio manager herself. "She would be expected to manage a group of the firm's clients," says Courtney. "Using the firm's marketing efforts, she would also be active in bringing new business to the firm."

Burns would offer Newton $35,000 to $55,000, depending on her job interviews. Again, the salary bid and ask are pretty much on target.

At age 24, Taylor Nipp will graduate with his bachelor's in personal financial planning in the same class as Newton. I gave him the firm of Stepp & Rothwell Inc. to consider-an independent RIA in Overland Park, Kan., offering comprehensive financial planning and investment management to affluent clients.

To Nipp, the ultimate reward of joining a financial advisory firm is ownership. "From Stepp & Rothwell's Web site," says Nipp, "it looks like I would start in the back office as an assistant to their planners, or maybe even lower, depending upon their needs. Hopefully, after I've proven myself, they'd move me up to the next series of steps and, eventually, a partnership."

Whether this partnership path is possible for staffers is unclear when you look at Stepp & Rothwell's site. But the point is that young, would-be advisors like Nipp see employment from a broader perspective than we may give them credit for. They want to go to work for smart people who have built a great business, get mentored to improve their skills as planners and business managers and then buy the business when the smart people are ready to retire.

"I've thought about starting my own business," says Nipp, "but with all these great firms out there, it's much easier to step into an established business where the owners will be selling in the future." According to Nipp, this attitude prevails among most of the students at Texas Tech. "Many speakers come into our classes and say, 'Don't worry about starting your own practice. I loved doing it, but it's just much easier now to get in with an existing firm.'"

Does Nipp demand a mentorship by a firm principal? "It would be nice to be mentored by one of the principals, but I see every staff person as having their area of expertise, so I would be fine with having more than one mentor." Texas Tech emphasizes the importance of mentoring, says Nipp. "The best way to learn is from others' mistakes. Our school is wonderful and the professors are great, but it's not a substitute for real-world experience. We're all looking for someone who will invest time in us."

So Nipp is happy to climb the ladder as defined primarily by his employer. And he's asking a seemingly modest $35,000 to $45,000 ("Preferably towards the middle of that range") to start. What would Kathy Stepp say to that?

"Taylor would start here as an analyst." In the total scheme of things at Stepp & Rothwell, an analyst is what they call the bottom rung of the professional ladder, just below planners (with their CFP designations), who are below principals Kathy Stepp, Howard Rothwell and Ken Eaton. "The job of the analyst," explains Stepp, "is to support the planners by gathering data from third parties (e.g., insurance companies), shopping for clients (e.g., mortgages), communicating routine messages to clients (e.g., tax payment reminders), preparing internal client information forms, doing research and generally whatever planners request. Doing this job is a fantastic way for someone to learn the real business."

Because Taylor wants to work with his own clients, Stepp says he would need to earn his CFP and reach planner status. "As a planner, Nipp would team up with a principal to provide and implement recommendations to the firm's clients assigned to Nipp. Right now, our planners each have 25 to 30 clients for whom they spend all of their time. The planner is the main contact for the client, and the planner maintains all client data."

Meanwhile, Stepp & Rothwell established a phantom stock ownership plan just this year that would cater to Nipp's ownership ambitions. "Participation begins after five years of service, with full vesting at ten years, and Taylor would share in the growth of the company from the point at which he entered the plan," explains Stepp.

As for salary, the firm currently has one analyst earning $45,000, but will hire the next one at a base salary of $30,000 to $35,000-a tad on the low side of Nipp's expectations. However, planners make $80,000 to $95,000 a year, which should be ample incentive to Nipp to train hard as an analyst, earn his CFP and move up the ladder quickly. Stepp is quick to point out the generous benefits also offered to employees, not the least of which is that the firm shuts its doors at 1 p.m. every Friday.

One thing to realize about the firms we've selected for this article is that they have a clue. They're not representative of the old-school thinking that an intern or young employee should come in without a game plan, be grateful for the opportunity to do menial work indefinitely, and then expect a fight when asking for her own desk and computer. Austin, Burns and Stepp & Rothwell are all growing firms that hire regularly and have a well-thought-out strategy for developing their talent.

If your firm hasn't thought through the employee experience to this extent, maybe it's time it did, and hopefully we've given you some guidelines to consider.

An independent financial advisor since 1981, David J. Drucker, MBA, CFP® has been an industry influential for many years. Learn about his upcoming Technology Tools for Today® Conference-the industry's premier technology conference for financial advisors-at www.VirtualOfficeNews.com.