Only take this if youre 100% certain you want to be a Financial Advisor - Financial Consultant Academy Charles Schwab Employee Review

1.0
Sep 29, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-They'll License you immediately -Some of the managers are top quality -Great benefits and salary is OK

Cons

-They dont tell you this is fully a call center job. -For 75% of the time youre there youll be doing password resets and helping people log onto their website.Even once youre licensed the most common call you will get will be someone needing help on the website or a paperwork issue. Its almost a tech support job - They will consistently adjust your timeline there at will and call it "a business decision". You may be there 14 months, you might be there 25 months. -Cutthroat Culture. You can only pee on your break or it will screw up your metrics. - You have very little control on what branch you actually end up at. There were people who asked for the east coast and got Michigan -Expect to take 50 calls in an 8 hour shift -The performance metrics will change at will - They expect you to wear a suit to answer calls in a phone center -They subjectively track performance and play favorites -If you dont like it, they wont let you transition to other departments -The average person lasted 8 months

Explore other reviews about Charles Schwab

5.0
Jul 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work life balance, and nice environment

Cons

Sometimes feels like clockwork. Nothing exciting

1.0
Jul 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Paycheck comes on time most weeks -8% 401k match is very competitive

Cons

-Raises our very low. The “exceeding expectations” raise has been around 3% for the last three years, which is under inflation. -AI is used as the primary way of grading performance, however the way that this AI grades is kept secret from us doing the work. You can have great feedback from client but if the AI scores you low, you will be written up/fired. - Client data entry and account operations have been outsourced to low-quality processors India. Every single day you will deal with issues because of how much sloppy work is being done. There is no follow up or problem-solving regarding these errors, they are just a fact of life at Schwab, and you need to double check pretty much everything being done here. -Most members of leadership, when sharing their personal story, will share that Schwab was their second choice. They call someone who has left Schwab and then come back a “schwabarang” and many members of leadership are Schwabarangs. This can easily be felt in the nature and character of the leadership where the focus is on KPI numbers and keeping costs as low as possible over any kind of improvement of operational effectiveness

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