Business development managers will need practical qualifications, tenacity, flexibility and patience to break into the competitive financial services sector, according to an industry veteran.
"I think the financial services industry is a bit like the Australian cricket team," Access Capital Advisers head of distribution and marketing Mark Thomas said.
"It's very hard to break into, but once you're in it's very easy to move around and even when you have a slump in your performance you'll still be picked."
A practically-oriented course will give job seekers better insight into desired roles and will be taught by people with real experience who can demonstrate the applicability of the concepts they teach.
Thomas, a former options and futures trader, said he remembers being frustrated when lecturers were unable to explain practical applications when he was at university.
"Opportunities will not come to you. Don't wait for them to come - you create your own luck," Thomas said. "By being flexible you create your own opportunities and a long and stimulating career will be yours."
It also takes patience getting the so-called dream job or desired position, Thomas said. New entrants would find it particularly tough to break into the sector in 2009 as job openings are correlated to equities performance, he said.
"Basically what that means is that if the market is up, so too are your employment prospects ... and in the last calendar year the S&P/ASX 200 was down 40 per cent. So yes, times are tough," Thomas said.
