By Rachelle, Team Leader, Client Services
FIND YOUR FIDELITY through relationships.
Connecting and relating with others is embedded in our culture.
Relationship equity. It’s not only about building relationships, but it’s the bond created with others that doesn’t go away. It represents the culture here and Rachelle has found that and more at Fidelity. Read on to learn more about Rachelle.
“I never considered a career in financial services.”
I’ve always been a people person. In school, I explored nursing (but decided it wasn’t my true calling) and decided to switch my major to criminal justice so I could take on a public service role. When I graduated from college though, I was faced with tons of student loan debt and continued to bar tend and wait tables at a restaurant while looking for a longer-term career that could help pay the bills. I enjoyed working at the restaurant because I got to meet and interact with different people.
I met my husband who worked at Fidelity and he encouraged me to explore a customer service role with the company. I must admit, I was completely intimidated and didn’t feel qualified for a job in financial services I didn’t love math in school and had no experience with the financial markets.
But, because he raved about the benefits (they had just introduced a student loan reimbursement program), I knew there was a ton of opportunity at Fidelity. So, I decided to give it a shot and Googled what a 401(k) was before my interview!
A Moment of Panic to Being Set Up for Success
I was sitting in the waiting area at Fidelity before my interview and spoke with a woman who had a business degree with a lot of experience. And then I had a moment of panic, questioning to myself, “What am I doing here?”
But I remembered what my husband told me – having experience talking to people would be a big plus when helping customers. And he was right. I accepted a role as a Financial Customer Associate supporting our 401(k) customers.
To start, I was part of a class of roughly 20-25 new associates and we went through training together. Fidelity invests so much time into the training and development of the people that they hire. Our philosophy is that if you bring your EQ, which is the soft people skills, we will train you for the IQ, which is the knowledge needed to help customers. Fidelity really gave us everything that we needed to be successful.
Opportunities to Grow and Help Others Do the Same
During the pandemic, my husband and I moved from Merrimack, NH to Denver, CO for his new job with Fidelity. And I took this as an opportunity to try something different. I was hired onto a new customer team and expressed an interest in leadership.
My manager was so supportive and immediately helped to keep me moving in that direction. So, I started to work towards obtaining my Series 9/10 licenses and now I’m leading a team of associates who just started at Fidelity. It’s great to be able to share my experiences and reassure our new associates that they have what it takes to be successful in the role.
A Culture of Caring that Extends to Our Customers and Associates
At Fidelity, I’ve found that it’s the relationship capital that really stands out – you can make meaningful connections with people and no matter how much time lapses, people will make time for you and offer support.
As an associate, I also feel cared for by the company. During Covid, especially when other companies were laying off employees, Fidelity stepped up to offer additional support to take care of our personal needs, whether it was childcare for my daughter or introducing a new program to help support our mental health. Fidelity really takes care of its associates.
Every day I feel this great responsibility to do right by our clients and make sure that I bring my best self to work to serve them well. It makes me feel important in my work that I am making a difference in some people’s lives over the course of a 10-minute phone call. That’s pretty incredible.
Five years ago, one of my fellow waitresses at the restaurant where I worked also held a job at Fidelity and she helped me prepare for my interview by drawing a diagram on one of our order sheets. To this day, I have it framed and hanging on my wall as a visual reminder of how far I’ve come!
