Whats in a title?

[Fudge]

I have just reviewed a website with a number of people having a title called:

1. Wealth Consultant
2. Wealth Adviser
3. Property Wealth Manager
4. Property Wealth Consultant
5. Wealth Specialist, etc, etc.

For clients to respect these professions, wouldn't it be fair to say that the necesary experience required in these fields would be that they are wealthy people (Not rich as rich does not necessarilly relate to money). Surely you have to walk the walk before you can be labelled a wealth consultant??

Also got me thinking as to why aren't most financial planners financially 'free'. For a career working as a financial planner, you would have to be doing it for the love of it if you are above 50 wouldn't you?? (If financial planners aren't financially free, what hope have the rest of us got if we seek their advice?)

F

 

[Rolf Latham]

Fair call

Similar thinking pervades other areas of our lives even at a more fundamental level, the best one I believe is the one of "Health System"

Australia has a good hospital system and general medical, but calling it a health system isnt right, we treat sick people and focus almost nada on preventative health

ta
rolf

 

[weg]

Perhaps they aren't looking for respect, but rather trying to attract customers by giving the illusion of being wealthy as a way of promoting themselves.

When I see a title like that I read wealth/financial product salesperson and presume how well they do is based on how many clients they attract and how well they sell their product.

I personally don't think the majority are necessarily any wealthier than many other people in other lines of work.

 

[Dazz]

I have just reviewed a website with a number of people having a title called:

1. Wealth Consultant
2. Wealth Adviser
3. Property Wealth Manager
4. Property Wealth Consultant
5. Wealth Specialist, etc, etc.

For clients to respect these professions, wouldn't it be fair to say that the necesary experience required in these fields would be that they are wealthy people

No need for respect - the solicitors have been before you and worded the contract so lopsidedly that if it all goes to rat**** then they are covered and the client is left swinging from the end of a rope.


If and when that happens, no need for respect.....just 4 levels of boilerplate over yer @$$ is all you are looking for.


Titles - hmmmm - I gave up that malarkey years ago when I pulled the pin. Money trumps titles every single time.


I called myself an engineer for 20 years. Young pups wanted to call themselves 'senior engineer' when they still had bum fluff on their chin. Supervising consultant - WTF ?? Chief managing partner.....senior sales consultant....and the grand-daddy of them all - vice president of marketing.....hahahahaha


After you retire due to excessive wealth and walk out the door for the last time, you soon realise even CEO doesn't mean jack squat.

 

[Wunderbar]

Everyone is a director/manager/executive nowadays. I just focus on $$$.

 

[charttv]

Titles - hmmmm - I gave up that malarkey years ago when I pulled the pin. Money trumps titles every single time.

Wholeheartedly agree with you on that Dazz. I focus on results, not titles. I respect those who have the results that I desire, their title is irrelevant.

They could be the Queen of England for all I care, it's their track record that counts.

 

[Fudge]

I called myself an engineer for 20 years. Young pups wanted to call themselves 'senior engineer' when they still had bum fluff on their chin. Supervising consultant - WTF ?? Chief managing partner.....senior sales consultant....and the grand-daddy of them all - vice president of marketing.....hahahahaha

I know exactly what you mean. I have Engineer on my Bus Card, but you see around on some of the ones that go back and forth and they are every engineer under the sun. (Sen. Proj. Engineer, Section Engineer, Deputy....etc, etc) and they all have just got out of Uni.

I don't take on board titles at all. When I see something like Wealth Creator, etc, etc, I get more dubious than I do than average titles.

F

 

[joanmc]

Haha, makes me remember how impressed i used to be when I saw someone was a Company Director....right up until we had to become a company in our business....2 x $1 shares and a grand to ASIC and I was a company director! Bit of a w*ank really isn't it!

 

[tom32]

I know exactly what you mean. I have Engineer on my Bus Card, but you see around on some of the ones that go back and forth and they are every engineer under the sun. (Sen. Proj. Engineer, Section Engineer, Deputy....etc, etc) and they all have just got out of Uni.

I don't take on board titles at all. When I see something like Wealth Creator, etc, etc, I get more dubious than I do than average titles.

F

I would have thought the profession at least in the construcion game has a fairly well understood progression.

I can only assume you are talking construction with section engineers, or do computer scientists now use this term to describe parts of the office?

I certainly have never met a senior PE or section engineer who has less than 5 years experience. Typically more than 10.

Edit I do agree with you though for those who put several titles on one card. Occasionally come across them. Certainly if anyone asks me what I do I tell them I am an engineer on occasions civil engineer in case they ask me to fix their computer... My business card does go into the usual **** I must admit...

 

[wylie]

Also got me thinking as to why aren't most financial planners financially 'free'. For a career working as a financial planner, you would have to be doing it for the love of it if you are above 50 wouldn't you?? (If financial planners aren't financially free, what hope have the rest of us got if we seek their advice?)

This intrigues me and has been brought up on the forum before.... the idea that a financial planner should somehow be a financial superman and be sitting on piles of money.

I have no idea what a financial planner would earn, but lets pick say $140K per annum. Just like an engineer or a clerk on that money, he may have a wife at home not earning, a couple of kids into private school and extracurricular sport, might enjoy overseas travel or whatever else the rest of us enjoy and all this costs money.

Just because they advise people on where to invest, that doesn't give them a licence to print it. They have the same choices of places to invest their "spare" money as the rest of us. They don't get a higher return than their clients. Sure, they should be good a choosing where to invest, but heck, they have to have "spare" funds to invest in order to do well.

I find it a bit like saying that doctors never smoke or drink to excess because they know better.... but we all know that is not the case.

 

[mary&mat]

Hee hee - good thread!

I remember when people who answer phones for businesses started getting called Customer Service Specialists & the like...as another poster said, what a w*nk!

 

[weg]

This mindset and psychology would apply here as well.

I'd say it's all the work of senior business human resources or project managers... or the head promotional/marketing executives .

http://www.asiaone.com/Business/Office/Ask/Story/A1Story20091221-187187.html

 

[Deltaberry]

Even if someone is a CEO of some super bank like ANZ, means nothing to me if his decisions don't influence me (ie make me any richer).

As for wealth managers, well, if they were so good they won't be managing your wealth. However you do pay for fancy presentations and a compilation of data copied from every source out there.

If they're a private banker in a big bank, at least they can help you jump the queue on some processes. Not sure if they're worth their dime though

 

[wobbycarly]

Hee hee - good thread!

I remember when people who answer phones for businesses started getting called Customer Service Specialists & the like...as another poster said, what a w*nk!

"Customer Service Officer" - wow!!

 

[mary&mat]

"Customer Service Officer" - wow!!

Heh heh, I know it's not earth shattering, but it does make them sound slightly more professional than 'telephonist' though

I think it all started around the time our businesses were becoming more Americanised with 'workshops' & words like 'brainstorming' being bandied around in the early 90's. Pffft to the jazzing up of old concepts with sparkly new words

 

[weg]

I think it all started around the time our businesses were becoming more Americanised with 'workshops' & words like 'brainstorming' being bandied around in the early 90's. Pffft to the jazzing up of old concepts with sparkly new words

Some of the documents that float around at work are kind of embarrassing in that respect. I think they use the 'wanky-waffle replacement text' function.

These are not cases where legal terminology is required, but rather the work of projects type people who are trying to justify the importance of their job, and who's papers go straight into the shredder .

It should be a sackable offence.

 

[mary&mat]

Some of the documents that float around at work are kind of embarrassing in that respect. I think they use the 'wanky-waffle replacement text' function.

These are not cases where legal terminology is required, but rather the work of projects type people who are trying to justify the importance of their job, and who's papers go straight into the shredder .

It should be a sackable offence.

Ha ha - agree!

Remember when there was no such thing as a Human Resources Dept

 

[Dazz]

Remember when there was no such thing as...

• OH&S laws
• Discrimination laws
• Workplace Relations laws

The chaps on the hill keep pumpin' em out, the lawyers keep asking for more Acts.....and hence companies are forced to employ more useless bods to monitor / administer / paper shuffle.


Lawyers need paper to put on the bench for judges to consider.....that's why the job at hand gets sacrificed so everyone can fill in the papers.

"At what precise time did you lift that pallet with the forklift."

"My records show it was 08:47 am sir."

"Case dismissed, it couldn't possibly have been you, the incident wasn't reported to HR officials until 09:11 am"

 

[mary&mat]

Hee hee, nice one!

No wonder we're not competitive in the domestic or international market anymore when other countries don't have these workplace laws.

Not saying it's a good thing, but when others are prepared to work on buildings with no scaffolding, ropes or general OH&S, how can we offer a competitively priced product?

Talkback radio made me laugh the other day. A plant in Japan or China had a huge hole in the factory floor with no barrier around it. When the Co. was talking about workplace safety, they commented that, 'Why do we need to section it off? Everyone knows it's there. They'd be silly to go falling into it.'

Oh, how we differ culturally

 

[Dazz]

Having seen magnificent / large / efficient operations in Singapore in full swing, where the people go about their job and do a great job at it at a reasonable cost without poncing about wanting to be industrial lawyer wannabes.....Australia hasn't a ghost hope.


We've got 'workers' who typically walk around with 2 cement bags of weight strapped to their guts, sitting down pointing the finger at anything and anyone to make their life easier / safer, meanwhile getting paid outrageous amounts to do bugger all.....and if they are asked to get off their bum and actually work, the union shop stewards are called in and everyone down tools, citing some irrelevant section 64.3 OH&S law. When they get really good at it, they get selected to represent the Labor party - up the workers and all that.


Dunno about over east, but here in WA they are either 160kg, can hardly walk and/or are called Jock or Fraser. They all know the laws backwards, know exactly how far they can push it, and without constant security presence frequently break the law to suit their means. Stopping the job half way thru a crucial concrete pour is a favourite.


The wharves are another biggy. Chris Corrigan tried to break their stranglehold and get some real work done to compete with other far more efficient ports like Singapore....but alas....with the Labor Party in power it's a no show. May as well pack up and go home jobless - which is what they have forced everyone to do.


Now everyone is in the tertiary sector, providing "service" to other folks via a computer. We cannot get you your 40' container of goods, but we are able to track it down and tell you where it is idly sitting right down to the last millimetre with a flashing "pending" on your screen.....