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      FINRA

      Engaged Employer

      FINRA reviews

      3.8

      69% would recommend to a friend

      (931 total reviews)
      avatar

      Robert W. Cook

      64% approve of CEO

      59% positive business outlook

      Ratings by demographic groups

      FINRA has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 931 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The FINRA employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Financial Services industry (3.6 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      931 reviews
      1.0
      Feb 23, 2013

      Get out of dodge

      Examiner
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Benefits and work/life is pretty decent. Great way to learn FINRA regulation and network within the industry. Given regulatory and industry changes in the US the technical skillset is probably less valuable than it was twenty years ago, but is nonetheless valuable. `

      Cons

      The organization moves at a snails pace and so does your opportunity for advancement. Its so heavily matrixed that getting visibility, and recognition, for your achievements from the people that matter is next to impossible. Moreover, although there are a fair number of great people to work with, there is also a sizable amount that are truly wretched. Some of the most miserable and incompetent people that I have encountered in my career are employed by the firm. Get out after 2-4 years.

      4.0
      Mar 28, 2011

      Great stepping stone but dont expect to stick around long.

      Regulatory analyst
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Depending on which department/group you work in, it can be a FUN place to work. FINRA also has a fun atmosphere - most employees are 25-35 years old, and have a wide array of backgrounds. The benefits package is terrific (at least when I was there - it may have worsened since) and work life is very decent too. The pay is not bad and bonus is very performance driven.

      Cons

      Typical turnover is 2 years, Don't really expect to stay more than 2-3 years. People get burned out quickly. Some departments are more high-pressure than others, but if you are unlucky and get a not-so-great manager, don't expect to love your job. The bonuses are not consistent and not always reflective of your efforts. Its a numbers game despite what they tell you. Getting promoted is not easy. If you leave, dont expect any tears from management. They will have 200 resumes of their desk from people seeking to replace you within 2 weeks. Mgrs have little incentive to retain top performers when they can hire someone else for 1/3 less.

      4.0
      Nov 3, 2022

      Overall great

      Technology leader
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      - FINRA is a mid-sized organization with tons of need for technology innovation. Compared to other behemoths, it is fast paced, and if you are in the right group, you will learn and accomplish a lot. - Overall, the company culture and the middle management layer is OK. I worked in multiple technology teams, and while they had their problems, a toxic work culture wasn't one of them. - FINRA offers fully remote work. Ever since the pandemic began, very few people have ever been in the office. - The technology team has great controls and processes in place. Once you learn how to navigate the system, it is easy, predictable, and mitigates a ton of risks. - Overall, FINRA has top notch talent (although as of late, it is plagued tremendously with high attrition).

      Cons

      - The pay is barely OK these days. It used to be very competitive 5 years ago, but ever since the pandemic began, tech salaries have exploded and FINRA hasn't kept up. In my particular example, I made a lateral move to another employer in the DMV area and increased my total compensation easily by 40%. - The senior and executive technology leadership leaves much to be desired. A lot of the top notch engineering talent is leaving in droves because of the unbearable politics, constant reorg and pointless infighting among the top ranks. Having said this, unless you are close to that level, it's not going to affect you much. - The biggest and a more fundamental con with FINRA is that for the mandate they are trying to fulfill, they are seriously understaffed. In a way, FINRA sits at the epicenter of the entire US financial markets data and is tasked with protecting the market integrity. However, the manpower required to build and maintain those big data and ML systems is very lacking. Unfortunately, FINRA is a non-profit org and purely operates off of SEC mandates, so unless the SEC and the US Congress expand FINRA's budget, they will not keep up with the changing times. I view their long term outlook as suspect. FINRA was (and probably is) good at big data processing, but it is light years behind in ML, data science and doesn't understand emerging trends in digital currency and Blockchain.

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      Glassdoor has 1,226 FINRA reviews submitted anonymously by FINRA employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if FINRA is right for you.