Been with a national wirehouse for less than a year. Was with a large 401k recordkeeping firm prior to moving to wirehouse. Have obtained 4 securities licenses (6, 7, 63 and 65) as well as insurance license.

This is second career. Worked as engineer for nearly 20 years prior to the move. Got burned out on the travel and made enough seed money to take the plunge and make the change.

My issue: Thought the job would be much more technical in nature. Hoped to be utilized for my technical abilities as well as my marketing abilities. In my previous career, I eventually moved into a role as a marketer for our division, pursuing projects from clients whom we already had an estasblished relationship with. This was in addition to project management and lead engineering roles, but it gave me the added experience of presenting to clients, putting together presentations, speaking in front of people, etc.

Once I completed the certification process, I immediately was moved into production. I was not provided the option of joining a team, although I was approached, and have several senior FAs who want to "strategically team with me" when pursuing clients. We would split the fees of any clients I brought in, with me getting the lions share of the credit. However, this is not the same as being ON a team, which provides some shelter against what I consider to be insurmountable production requirements.

My goals are to bring in an average of ~ $850k/month for the next 3 years. Doing so graduates me to full FA status. Failure to do so means I lose my job. If you are not on course after 6 in production, you receive a formal warning. If you are not on track after 9 months, you are politely informed that your services are no longer needed.

My apologies for the long text, but had to give my issue some context. So, I have diligently been pursuing prospects, been spending my own money to treat people to lunch while I'm trying to "grow my own business" (as they do not provide new FAs with a business development account) but have had no success. I've nearly exhausted my entire list of leads that I brought in, and I feel very uncomfortable approaching family and friends about their money. I've done it several times and the feeling of unease, once the subject is brought up, is palpable. I've been told that the longer I do it, the less difficult it gets. I have not encountered that phenomenon. In fact, I have found the exact opposite to be true.

If anyone is still reading, the feedback I would like is: what options do I have if I want to stay in this industry, but do NOT want to be a salesman? What would you do if you were in my position? I have enough money stashed away such that I could survive while finding something else. It just seems a shame to end a potential career in the investing/FA industry simply because I am not a salesman and that is not what I entered the industry to do. Thx to anyone who stayed w/this exhaustively long post. Venting as much as anything else. Very disenchanted with the whole thing right now.