Four Ways to Gain Experience
The Externship
To gain experience toward CFP® certification virtually, consider the Externship, which is an eight-week, online training program focused on a career in financial planning. More than 3,200 new and future financial planners have taken the program since 2020. “Externs” are a diverse group of students and professionals from around the U.S. and the globe, and range in age from students to retirees.
Anyone interested in starting or advancing in a financial planning career can join. It’s a great way to gain a significant amount of experience: You can earn 500 standard pathway experience hours toward CFP® certification.
The Externship is 100% virtual and asynchronous. That means you can take part in the program from any part of the world, at any time of the day.
In the program, you will experience what the day-to-day work is like as a financial planner. You will watch actual client meetings, use planning software and build financial plans. You will also hear from experts about how they do what they do.
Every week of the eight-week program focuses on a key area of financial planning. Each week includes three experts on that topic, one real client meeting and assignments. You can choose to attend the live events as they happen or watch the recordings when your schedule allows; all live events are recorded and posted online a few hours later.
The 2025 program runs from June 2 to August 1, 2025. Registration opens in Spring 2025.
The cost to sign up is $397, although there are scholarships and discounts available. At no extra cost, you have the opportunity to gain eMoney certification.
Learn more about the Externship program.
Financial Planning Discovery Courses, Amplified Planning
For a free option to gain experience, check out the Financial Planning Discovery Courses from CFP Board and Amplified Planning. If you’ve ever wished you could really see what a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional does, this is your chance. These courses, created by Hannah Moore, CFP®, owner of Amplified Planning, give you a sneak peek into real client scenarios and conversations.
When you sign up, you receive access to a bundle of three unique courses. Each video course you complete allows you to earn 50 Standard Pathway hours toward the experience requirement for CFP® certification; by completing all three courses in the bundle, you earn 150 Standard pathway experience hours while gaining confidence and career guidance to become a financial planner.
For each course, you watch real, diverse client videos and complete financial planning assignments. Each client or client couple has their own financial challenges and needs, allowing you to see the diverse ways that financial planning principles can be used to support your future clients.
You get to know each of these clients by watching their introductory meeting with Moore. She’ll also guide you through how she thinks about their individual circumstances and how you can apply that knowledge to create a financial plan that matches each client’s needs.
You do homework to help with the client plans, just like an associate CFP® professional, and you receive real-time feedback and decision-making breakdowns in “post-game play” style videos.
Learn more about the Amplified Planning Financial Planning Discovery Courses.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
Volunteer to help your community and gain experience by preparing taxes with the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which offers free basic tax return preparation to qualified individuals. Through the VITA program, you can help taxpayers build financial security while educating them on tax credits and deductions they qualify for.
For more than 50 years, tens of thousands of dedicated VITA volunteers have prepared millions of federal and state returns each tax-filing season. They also have assisted taxpayers with the preparation of thousands of facilitated self-assistance returns.
When you volunteer, you receive training to provide free tax help for low-to-moderate income families who need assistance preparing their tax returns. All volunteers must take and pass tax law training that meets or exceeds IRS standards. Training is free, and it is offered both online and in the classroom.
Some CFP Board Registered Programs have VITA clinics on-campus, but VITA sites may also be at community and neighborhood centers, libraries and other locations across the U.S. You can use the VITA locator tool to find a VITA site near you.
VITA sites are generally open nights and weekends, and the hours are flexible. The time commitment is up to you, but volunteering through VITA can count toward the experience requirement for CFP® certification. Enter the hours you earned in your CFP Board account when done.
Learn more about volunteering for the VITA program.
Peer Financial Coaching
Students can help fellow students master their finances. Many universities offer peer financial coaching opportunities through their financial aid office, financial wellness program or financial planning program. These programs train you to guide fellow students toward financial success by teaching them essential skills such as budgeting, credit and debt management, and saving for the future.
Programs may offer individual coaching, small group coaching and/or group presentations. Individual sessions may last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and may be virtual or in person.
Requirements to participate vary by program. Typically, you need to be a student at the university where the program is located and preferably in a major that relates to personal finance. Peer financial coaches may have to make a specific time commitment, and they generally must maintain satisfactory academic progress.
Serving as a peer financial coach could count toward CFP® certification experience hours. Contact your college financial planning program or financial aid office to find out how you can make an impact through their peer financial coaching program.
If you are no longer a student or are changing careers, you may find some opportunities to serve as a peer financial coach with nonprofit organizations who offer financial wellness services.