Pros
Great benefits, great retirement plan, generally a good working environment, good amount of PTO and can purchase an additional week.
Cons
Started in participant services/401k team and eventually got promoted (after 18 agonizing, repetitive months) to retail investment group. Retail is a whole different world than 401ks. I was studying for the Series 7 exam and after 10 days of independent studying, my Team Leader told me that I have to study on my own time since Vanguard only pays for 10-15 days of independent study and I now had to work on projects and web-based trainings, and my Team Leader told me that she wanted an email at the end of the day, informing her of what I did that day. Well, as someone who is no licensed to speak with clients, and placed on a team that has little to no projects to do, I still studied and sent her an email saying I took trainings... In participant services, I took approximately 70 calls a day, all for loans and "hardship loans" from participants mainly with FedEx and Kaiser Permanente, who dont understand HOW their plans work and we had to explain it to them, baring the brunt of abuse because they cannot withdraw their funds due to plan restrictions and their own lack of knowledge. It became very mundane stating the same 6 hardship withdrawal reasons and reading all the loan scripts. Additionally, in all honesty, between all the metrics to verify when im OFF the phone and when im ON the phone, as well as how long ive been talking to clients, how long im even on my lunch break, and dictating the amount of time I can get to go to the bathroom, gets a little ridiculous. It feels like management spends more time regulating your own schedule than truly incorporating "career development". When I was applying for a promotion, my supervisor never even read my personal statement that was required, and, come to find out, she never even responded to requests for information from my new supervisor to get information. Lastly, I understand that there are service levels to meet, but I am not a 16 year old working his first job. I have a bachelor's degree and am getting paid less than the landscapers outside cutting our trees and raking our rocks. Give me a little breathing room. Bid PTO for PTO after holidays is a JOKE. We all work so hard during the year, we all should have equal rights to have time off after or before a holiday. In summary, youre basically a number to VG management until you basically stay long enough to become a Line Manager and get your own office (which btw takes 5 years and those entire 5 years, youre making less than 60k).
