Vanguard's secret is that it is basically a huge call center. If you are applying at an entry level its likely that you will be working in a phone group, taking 50+ calls a day. Most of these calls will be password resets and helping people fill out forms, little actual discussion about investments.
That is entirely the point. From a risk standpoint Vanguard wants you to handle as little as possible. My job is basically to give disclosures and if people ask me anything about tax I'm support to refer them to a tax advisor. If they ask for investment "advice" or even guidance, they should talk to a financial advisor.
Vanguard doesn't want you to use the degree you just worked all those years to get. Even the financial licenses you need to get before actually working with clients are pointless. I use less than 25% of the subject matter in my day-to-day. They are basically a way for FINR_A to squeeze $300 out of the company in "Licensing Fees".
I pretty much take calls back-to-back all day, every day of the week. The whole point is to start off under the grindstone and grow out of it right? Nope. There are some people in my department who have been taking calls for like 15+ years and I feel like some of them may have actually lost it. The only way I would work the phones for 10+ years is if assisted euthanasia became part of my benefits package. If you want to advance in this company you better start shaking hands and kissing babies because EVERYTHING is political here. There is no objective criteria for advancement. There are SO many people who are extremely capable at doing their job and might not be the "politician type", so they just end up doing the same job for years. If this is a company that you believe you can rise up the ranks of grab your notepad and popcorn and start binge watching Game of Thrones because that's what its going to take.
That leads me to another point, the culture, it feels like a cult and I can kind of see why. When I first became interested in working at Vanguard all I heard was "its the best place to work ever" and "oh Wow, I read about them in the WSJ their a great company"! There's a saying here that people who are playing "politics" drink the "cool aid", and you will never hear them say anything negative about Vanguard. They sound like people who think the world is made of cotton candy and Vanguard is as close to heaven-on-earth as physically possible. If you run into someone who has ONLY positive things to say about Vanguard they are playing politics for personal gain, maybe that's just the way it is at most company's, but I find it unnerving.
The "political" culture here means that no one can had an objective "matter-of-fact" conversation about why things may be imperfect. For example there is a massive problem with communications between departments and even within them. Technology is an issue, the systems we use are at least 5 years behind the curve, we just a couple of weeks ago started using Chrome as out default browser.
The culture also means that only well connected people get jobs in middle management. Being well-connected isn't the best criteria for management and it really shows. For example the first meeting with my manager I was told that I would be making $3000 less than the people in my onboarding class because I was taking my exams after "the cut-off date". This turned out to be completely false and only added to my stress levels leading up to my exam. I cant speak for everyone, I am sure there are fantastic managers across the company, its just I don't work under one. I feel like my manager doesn't actually care about my "career" or helping me advance with my goals, all that matters is that I can take calls and keep the service level where it should be.
