Career Paths

Supporting the development of our financial representatives helps strengthen the entire Network. We provide continuous opportunities for advancement through specialization and leadership training. Everyone’s career path is unique, so our independent financial representatives control the choices they make to help direct and further their careers.

Financial Representative: Representatives in this model will address client’s personal and business needs and deliver financial security solutions through in-depth factfinding, needs analysis, and insurance and investment product recommendations.

Specialization - The opportunity to specialize in market niches such as disability income, long-term care, annuities and investments. Representatives may also choose to become financial advisors of Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC or wealth management advisors of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company®.

• Investment Specialist: Offer you clients retirement solutions, education funding, estate analysis, wealth accumulation, and business needs analysis. You will specialize in providing guidance on investment strategy, allocation, and implementation to meet long-term investment needs.
• Employee Benefits Specialist: Strategic Employee Benefit Services (SEBS) is a nationwide program offering group health insurance and other employee benefit solutions to clients representing all sizes and types of businesses exclusively through Northwestern Mutual.
• Long Term Care (LTC) Specialist: Work with your clients to ensure that their long term care needs, or the needs of a family member will be taken care of. Under the Long Term Care insurance policy, the following coverage may be provided: Nursing Home, Adult Day Care, Alternative Living Facilities, Caregiver Training, and Respite Care.
• Estate and Business Planning Specialist: Offer your clients design, implementation and service of individual and business disability income insurance policies. Professional specialties include Individual Disability Income Insurance, Group Disability Income Insurance, Disability Overhead Expense, Disability Buyout, and Key Person Disability Coverage.

Leadership - The opportunity for career advancement through the recruitment, development and retention of fellow representatives by opening new offices, strengthening existing ones, and supplying the overall structure and support to maintain and grow the Network. A representative can maintain his/her own practice while helping other representatives build new ones. Leadership opportunities include, but are not limited to:

• Leadership through Education, Achievement & Development Program (L.E.A.D.): Provides access to an exclusive training curriculum that will help representatives develop the skills needed to take on a leadership role within their network office.
• Mentor Program: The Mentor Program has been established as a means of supporting growth and development of new financial representatives by pairing them with an experienced financial representative for the first six months. 
• College Unit Director (CUD): Leads a group of energized college interns. Read more about our top-rated internship program.
• Field Director (FD): Assists in the recruitment and selection process in order to build a cohesive unit of productive full-time financial representatives.
• Managing Director (MD): Takes on the unique challenge of balancing personal production and managing a district network office.
• Managing Partner (MP): Creates a vision and is responsible for the overall success of a network office.