I recently participated in a roundtable session at a CFA Society of Chicago career event with 12 moderators each leading a table discussion on careers in various investment specialties. My session was on family office careers. Almost everyone at my three consecutive table discussions started with the question: What is a family office?

I appreciated the interest of the participants who wanted a quick snapshot, and found it challenging to explain what types of jobs may be available to investment professionals looking to enter this industry. By the third table group I was admitting that it is almost impossible to find a job in a family office, especially for an investment professional. But there are some things you can do to increase your chances, if this is something you’re really interested in.

Here are a few tips: 

Become a trusted advisor to wealthy families

Maybe you aren’t handling all of their investments or they are still in a wealth creation mode, but if you can build the family leader’s trust and demonstrate your competence, they may ask you to help them when they’re ready to start a family office.

Get a designation, but don’t go too deep

Family office leaders generally have a CPA, JD, CFA, CFP, MBA or some combination of designations and degrees that shows they are technically capable. But don’t specialize for too long or too deep. Family offices need generalists. Unless you’re working for the top 5% of family offices who have sophisticated investment teams and the luxury of hiring someone just to follow fixed income securities, you’ll need to be well versed in many areas of the financial world.

Work in a family business

Our research tells us that the majority of family offices of business owning families are still imbedded in the operating company. Often working for the family starts gradually, with the CFO doing tax returns, or the general counsel drawing up a will. Eventually the employee’s time is spent mostly on family matters and a family office is created.

Work with family clients at a larger institution

One of the participants at the CFA event asked me if it was better to start working in a family office right out of college, or get some experience first. My unequivocal answer was to get some experience, otherwise you won’t bring any value to the table and will find it difficult to establish a career path and advance. Certainly there are exceptions, but getting experience at a company with family clients; like a private bank or trust company, a multi-family office or wealth advisor; will give you a chance to see if you enjoy working with families.

For me, working with families is the most rewarding and interesting part of my job. But it’s not for everyone. Success in a family office requires patience, compassion, extreme service orientation, attention to detail and organization, and the ability to effectively communicate and mediate among family matters.