What’s your name?
Trace Wong

Tell us about yourself!
I was born and bred in Singapore. I’m a wife, daughter and a mum of two children, 14 and 20. For the past 25 years, I’ve been a financial planner and I help individuals grow their wealth, plan for retirement and be adequately protected. I also work with companies and individuals on general insurance.

You became a secretary just after leaving school. What was it like to move from a totally unrelated career in administration to insurance?
I was 18 when completed my A levels in the early 1990s. After that, I studied for a diploma in computing. I found it difficult to get a job because almost every ad I looked at required applicants with experience. Naturally as a school leaver, I had none.

An entry-level secretarial job in a MNC came along, so I took it up because there was nothing else I could do. It didn’t take me long to realise that I didn’t enjoy what I was doing. There simply wasn’t any job satisfaction and it was hard to get up every day doing something I was not passionate about. I knew I needed a change, do something more challenging.

One day, I stumbled upon an ad for financial consultants, which said that applicants without experience were welcomed. I attended the seminar and it was only then that I realized it was a recruitment exercise for insurance agents.

What! I didn’t even like insurance agents. Pushy and annoying people just out to close a sale. And this was a seminar to recruit insurance agents? There was a stigma about them, and I wasn’t comfortable about it.

But I decided to go, just to have a listen.

The event wasn’t what I had expected. The subject matter was intriguing, it had all the things I was looking for: a challenge, yes, and a career where I could help others with a service that could possibly change their lives.

So, I put those doubts aside and gave myself three years to make it work. If the career change didn’t work out, I’d do something different after that.

What were your early days after you made your career change?
Tough! I knocked on doors (literally!) to introduce myself and find new clients. It was exhausting. At the end of each day, I was totally flat out! When I started, I worked entirely on commission.

Securing clients was a slow process. Soon after, I realise door-to-door marketing wasn’t sustainable. I networked and did telemarketing. Happy clients referred me on. That’s how I grew my base. Within two years of my career change, I had tripled my earnings.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about making a career change into insurance?
You’ve got to believe that what you’re doing helps people. I do. If this is your focus, it helps to keep you going. And if you’re the sort who likes a challenge, this industry is a good fit.

You’ll find yourself learning all the time – new things that are really practical, from regulations and the changing investment landscape and more.

What are the key challenges when you first join? How did you cope & overcome it?

Prospecting, don’t know how to get started due to different type of working environment as suddenly I have so much free time. Told myself that I need to have discipline in using the time wisely (used to be 9-6 job)

Discipline myself to run my time like 9-5pm job scope … gather a few colleagues who have the same mindset to work together every day. Try a few prospecting methods to fine tune the one that suited me best.

To put in my best effort so that there’s no regret if I look back as I gave myself 2- 3 years’ time frame to make this into my career.