Pros
If you have no experience in the financial industry (or lack a college degree), Vanguard might be a good starting point to help build your career. I had the degree but no financial work history. Randstad (a staffing agency) granted me the opportunity to contract with Vanguard as a financial processor. I had no interest in talking to clients on the phone, but working behind-the-scenes in operations was right up my alley. In less than 1 year, I accepted a permanent, full-time position as a licensed operations associate. Back then, the position used to require a Series 6 & 63. Another year later, I was promoted to Operations Specialist. Overall, I'd say the work experience, licenses, benefits package, and friendships were my biggest takeaways from Vanguard.
Cons
I wouldn't say that Vanguard is the worst place to work, but it's also not the greatest either. Vanguard wasn't the right fit for me for several reasons. Like most corporations, Vanguard touts that they are "the best" or "the leader" in X,Y, and Z. For example, Vanguard claims that they're the best at putting client's first or that they're a leading company based on their diverse culture, assets under management, sustainability, philanthropy, etc. In reality, there is nothing that truly sets Vanguard apart from other financial firms. At the end of the day, Vanguard is just one, big, giant institution competing for one thing- money... which isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, Vanguard is a business that must sustain itself in order to keep the lights on. I just find it distasteful whenever the big wigs would put a positive spin on what negatively impacts the crew. I've seen this done on multiple occasions throughout my tenure, and the only ones who benefit are the executives. Crew members have to work with outdated and flawed systems for one thing. Rather than spend the money to fix these technical issues, crew are expected to just roll with it while still maintaining a high level of professionalism and metrics rating. Money is often spent on frivolous expenditures. Not too long ago, Vanguard brought in a third-party consulting firm to completely "transform" how the processing department operates. Every TL now has a portable white board that displays their team's name, theme, employee morale rating, objectives, progress, etc. To be honest, these boards look like the inner workings of an elementary school teacher. This isn't 5th grade. This is a job. There is no reason why my team should huddle around a board every day to discuss how we're feeling and compare numbers. Vanguard's money could've been put to better use. What truly sets a company apart is their employees- both leaders and subordinates. You can have the most well-rounded, thought-provoking, heartfelt mission statement and values on planet earth, but if your employees don't live by it (specifically upper-management) then your company is no different and it will show. Micromanaging, deceptive performance review ratings, low compensation, meetings on top of more meetings, favoritism, low employee morale, constant corporate restructuring, poor work-life balance, and lack of transparency are all key indicators of a toxic work place. It's so cliche to read about these in negative company reviews, but it's true! I cannot tell you how many crew members have felt deflated after reaching their 1 year anniversary with Vanguard. You quickly learn that your voice does not matter and that there is little to no acknowledgement of your efforts unless someone up the chain of command likes you. In order to stay relevant in today's market, Vanguard has to put on all the bells and whistles to attract fresh college grads to buy into their corporate culture. Once you're in, they expect you to get pretty hammered off the corporate kool-aid. Vanguard will tell you that if you work hard and achieve a high performance rating at the end of the year (aka "fully distinguished" status) then you can get up to a 10% bump in pay. The problem with this incentive is that there's only so much room in the budget to grant a "fully distinguished" pay raise. However, upper management doesn't tell you this. So even if there's 10 people who are outstanding performers, but only 2 can be allotted the "fully distinguished" title, then guess what? Those 8 individuals are out of luck. To me, this sounds like one big ploy to get everyone to work their assets off for nothing in return. It gives people false hope that their hard work will be rewarded fairly and honestly.
