Job Security But Not For Everyone
Pros
Pays the bills and has great benefits. Beautiful home office. The atrium was my favorite place to eat lunch. You can see the arch from the 4th floor and up. Friendly people and engaging atmosphere. The Women's Inititive Network is a great networking opportunity. Community Service projects available. Wellness Coordinator, Massage Therapist, and car detail service available. Growing company ensures job security, as long as you play your cards right. Plenty of opportunity to change departments if unsatisfied with current position. The CEO, Ron, sends the firm emails on holidays and has an optimistic persona. Constantly trying to market Stifel as the choice full service brokerage firm. Great first job out of collage. Can not promote this company enough for students because of their great internship program.
Cons
Pay is no better than other companies, but you do have to pay for parking. Attached STL Parking Garage normally costs $85 a month to park there. Currently it is $25 a month since it is under construction. Stifel will likely never fully own this garage. Park at your own risk as burglaries have occurred there. Executives have their own private, gated garage. I do not think the hardest working employees are paid the most. WFH was available for most associates during Covid, but is slowly being rescinded. WFH is available for some associates, but on a very limited basis. Stifel University is an general overview class about Stifel. Other than that, department training is virtually non-existent. New hires have to learn on the fly, which is stressful for the new hire and a risk for the company. Lean staffing ensures that there is little time to spare on improving department training and operational procedures. I fear that there may not be enough seasoned operations associates to ensure long term success unless they are paid less than the industry standard or constantly working OT. Branch resources could be better. Operations associates are no longer allowed at the Stifel annual conference or Stifel Christmas party. Many senior managers have retired and other senior level associates have left for other companies that better fit their needs. Can be very stressful and unforgiving based on your role. They will sponsor you to take the SIE or Series 7 but all studying must be done outside of work. Hard to grow professionally, but you do get plenty of experience. I used to say that I feel like I have done so much, but achieved so little. However, Stifel is not the worst place I have worked at.
