Vanguard reviews

3.7

68% would recommend to a friend

(6,296 total reviews)

Salim Ramji

75% approve of CEO

66% positive business outlook

Vanguard has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 6,296 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Vanguard employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Financial Services industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

6K reviews
3.0
Aug 4, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some of the best reasons to work for Vanguard would be the name to put on your resume and the benefits. Management does a good job of facilitating your interest in career opportunities. I believe that the training is also another part of Vanguard's complete package that makes this employer a viable option for job seekers. It's an easy transition from college to this corporate environment because the majority of what you deal with when you first arrive is the phones group and that consists of mainly young professionals. The corporate environment is quite conservative so it helps to maintain a very classy reputation.

Cons

The phones are a trap for some people. When you first apply to Vanguard they make it seem like the phones position really only applies for the first year but once you get into your position management seems to hold onto associates for 2-3 years. Vanguard is a big company so it's hard to be recognized in any division. I feel as though some of the projects they have for their associates aren't researched thoroughly enough before they are rolled out. Vanguard is in need of some corporate weeding and by that I mean to say that some of the management they have within the company aren't fulfilling their job responsibilities and only have their position because of their number of years worked.

3.0
Jul 26, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The benefits are amazing considering the current health care enviornment. They also have a generous tuition reimbursement program compared to other companies. Vanguard is also very good at training. They bring a lot of vendors in house to do training, but will also allow external training if there is a need. The people are amazing. Peers and management seem as if the have a genuine personal interest in you well-being, creating a very friendly and laid back workplace. If you have an interest in learning more about the investment management space (even if it is not your primary function), there are a number of webcasts and podcasts that in house finance gurus publishes that you can learn from.

Cons

The base pay is not that great, and bonuses are horrible for people hired after 2004. The IT side is very top heavy, causing promotion issues all the way downstream. In order to get a promotion at any level, your manager and senior manager have to be willing to take a bullet for you. It all goes back to who you know, the stronger your network, the better off you are. There has been a very big push for diversity recently, but Vanguard is not that diverse at the principal or managing director level. Management only tells you what they want to tell you

2.0
Jul 22, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

tuition reimbursement plan is great, health benefits good but costly, retirement plan, friendly to people with kids, guaranteed employment if you arrive at work on time every day, access to resources and research, discounts, the work is easy and unchallenging, good training opportunities, business model works despite incompetence in some departments

Cons

senior management is not groomed for leadership, too much hierarchical dependence, managers are forced to give a bad performance evaluation to one member of the team even if they don't deserve it, weird layoff practices masked as "self selection" forcing employees to quit and forgo unemployment benefits, application of six sigma and dashboards a waste of time and productivity

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