Morningstar Development Program - Product Consultant Role in Advisor Support
Pros
This review is specifically for the Product Consultant role in Advisor Support as part of the Morningstar Development Program. Morningstar is a great place to work in general. The Chicago office is beautiful, the benefits are great, and your coworkers are genuinely wonderful people. However, this role is uncharacteristically stressful and unrewarding. If there is a pro, it's that you'll become very close to the people you work with. You'll be war buddies.
Cons
(This review is specific to Advisor Support, my Product Consultant friends in Institutional Support feel differently.) In this role you will not benefit from many of the perks of the Morningstar Development Program that were advertised to you during recruiting. Because you can't leave your phone, you will not be able to attend roundtable discussions with senior management, parties, social events, or volunteer opportunities if they are during your scheduled shift. You will work a 9 hour day with a 1 hour lunch - 1 hour longer than your fellow MDPs, without additional compensation. Sometimes you will be asked to stay even later to answer emails or complete unfinished work. You will be strictly limited to 15 vacation days, regardless of the company's liberal vacation policy, and will be made to feel guilty for taking time off because of the way it affects the call load of the rest of the (unfortunately understaffed) team. You may be asked to work on some holidays and will work several days that the rest of the company gets off. While many of your fellow MDPs get summer hours, you will be connected to your desk by a headset cord for exactly 8 hours each day, regardless of the season. You may be taken off of support and placed in save-the-sale for Morningstar.com premium. You will have very little control over your time and have very little social interaction with the rest of your MDP class. Depending upon the product you support, the work will either be difficult or un-stimulating.