Every week, Broadside features a student or alumnus with a great internship or job to highlight the opportunities and potential earning a degree at Mason offers.
(PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT HUGHES)
NAME: Scott Hughes
GRADUATION: 2003
DEGREES: BS Public Administration, Master’s of Business Administration
JOB: Hughes Financial Services, LLC; Financial Planning Advisor/ Managing Partner
How would you describe your job/place of work?
We are a growing independent financial planning company with two managing partners and three additional employees. My father and I started the company in May of 2009. We provide financial planning and wealth management services to more than 300 families. Many of our clients are either near or in retirement.
How did your courses or involvement in student organizations at Mason help you with your job?
With my undergraduate work, I started to realize that with hard work and analysis I could trust in my observations and conclusions. I grew personally quite a bit, with the help of the long-term friendships that started while in college. The one organization I was a member of was the Kappa Alpha Order. Many of my closest friends and network of supporters are my fraternity buddies from Mason. It is ironic because I never thought of myself as a fraternity guy (and still don’t). The greatest attribute of these friendships is that it fostered a positive encouragement to excel wherever possible, and I have people who know me well enough to tell me when I am wrong. You need that network in your corner. Whatever organization you become involved with, enjoy and foster those friendships forever. To the credit of George Mason University, it is astonishing when I see the collective success of my classmates today.
With my graduate work, I returned to Mason in the part- time MBA program, after already being in the workforce for several years. I was able to build on my own skill sets in an atmosphere with other professionals. The class that I am most thankful for was Investments by Dr. Michael Ferri. The MBA program was a great experience, and the highlight of that time was a trip to Chile, where I could see that many of the economic principles the U.S. economy was built upon helped that country and its infrastructure quite a bit.
What advice would you give students applying for similar jobs?
In my opinion, those that are the most successful are the ones that have a long-term view on their career. If I had to start in the field today, I would seek out successful planners and wealth managers and willingly start as an intern or at the bottom and work my way up. Too many companies in the financial services will hire as many young professionals as they can and require they sell products to as many people as they can. Those same companies know that the vast majority will not make it. Stay away from those kind of organizations, and seek companies that truly care about the client’s well- being—not what you are able to sell to the client.
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