I was in a 1 year training program for the Financial Consultant role while completing my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification. I was told I needed to sell more insurance, annuities, and managed accounts in order to continue on as a Financial Consultant. I was let go as soon as I hit the 1 year mark, shortly after I became a CFP® professional. I had told HR that I was pregnant when I became concerned about losing my job and asked to be considered for a different role within Fidelity (since I knew I would not be able to interview and start another job at 7 months pregnant). After I was let go by my manager, I reached back out to HR and they were not even aware that my employment was being terminated. Everyone I dealt with at Fidelity was extremely insensitive to the fact that this would cause a huge amount of stress to me and my family at a time that stress had serious potential health risks to myself and my baby. I ended up being unemployed for close to 9 months. I was interviewing for new jobs while also taking care of a newborn and paying extremely high premiums for health insurance for my family. Only 23% of CFP professionals are women, and only about 15% of financial advisors are women. Even though Fidelity touts its family values and culture, I would not recommend Fidelity to women based on my experience.
