Rising Professionals Committee
Mission statement
The committee will offer its New England members (junior to mid-level bankers and other financial services professionals) training opportunities, networking venues, and exposure to senior level individuals in their respective industries to help members design, shape, and accelerate their career growth and equip them with the right knowledge and skills to be successful in their professional endeavors.
Vision statement
It is becoming harder and harder for less experienced individuals in banking and other financial services industries to learn and grow for a number of reasons. The key reasons are highly competitive environment; lack of clarity, planning, and implementation of career plans; shortage of developmental opportunities and training; and lack of solid networking skills and exposure to senior level people. Here is how we, Rising Professionals Committee of RMA, can help our members address these issues:
1. Many organizations lack training opportunities and time to train individuals in junior and mid-level positions. A very common excuse is that everyone has to pay her or his dues before opportunities become available. While this is partially true, it should not mean stagnation in the interim! The RPC will identify training opportunities our members need the most and structure seminars, panels, and other forms of training that will address those needs.
2. The RPC will organize event where our members can to network with other financial and non-financial services professionals for business development purposes. In addition, we will offer our members an environment in which they can learn from and freely exchange ideas with their competitors to improve products and services they offer to their existing customers. Competition does not mean isolation!
3. Many of us still move from company to company without a clear career plan in mind. As a result, we waste our time doing jobs that do not help us learn and advance as fast as we potentially can. The RPC will structure its programs to share with our members the expertise of how to plan and successfully implement individual career plans based on the person’s interests, talents, and aspirations. We offer our customers financial products that are tailored to their particular needs and situations. It is time for us to do the same with our careers, and the RPC will help our members do exactly that. In addition, based on the economy and each organization’s business needs, many financial institutions cannot offer and do not see any need to offer growth opportunities for less tenured professionals. This forces these individuals to leave, at times taking jobs that are not in their best interest. How about creating opportunities in your companies by showing your initiative and insight? Why give up precious days, weeks, and months of your lives invested in those organizations? The RPC will help our members become proactive and learn to take initiative in their own hands. Our members will share their experience and guide each other through such challenging times. If they do decide to make a switch, we will help them figure our how to do it the right way.
4. Career competition is not going to go away. If anything, it will increase. A person does not have to be a cutthroat businesswoman or businessman to succeed. One simply has to distinguish herself or himself from the pool of candidates. The RPC will build and grow a large network of professionals similar to the way good B-schools operate their alumni networks. Our members will have access to a large network of junior to mid-level professionals throughout the RMA’s New England Chapter.
5. Many of us, business people, are simply bad at networking. It is worse when we do not even recognize this fact. The RPC will organize networking programs to teach our members how to network smartly and will provides them with access to a membership base to develop their careers. Equally important is the eventual access to senior bankers that are part of the RMA organization – another tool to help our members achieve their goals in the professional arena.