Vanguard Group exit opps?

Hello everyone,

I am interested in pursuing a career in AM or an analyst role preferably something related to Alternative Investments. As I just graduated college, I have a very good contact at The Vanguard Group and I am thinking to apply to some of their entry level positions. I found around 9 pages of negative reviews in Glassdoor about the company, pretty much everyone said to get experience, licensed, and leave.

Now, The Vanguard Group, according to what I researched, is a good name in the AM industry. However, I am not sure if there would be any possibility of exit opps after say 3 years in the company.

For all the experienced monkeys out there, what do you think about the exit opps from a company like Vanguard?
Are there any?

Any input is appreciated.

Thank you,

 
Best Response

if you're going to Vanguard in a support function (hearing this secondhand from one source so my sample size is small), you will be a glorified help desk person, but you'll get your series 7. sure, you'll get to sell a little bit, but it's not PWM, it's not Asset Management, you don't get creative (the culture of Vanguard is anti-active management so you won't get much exposure to research, portfolio construction, etc.)

if it's your best option, do it, get the CFA, and network your ass off til you get out. the hours aren't bad at all so you'll have time to study for CFA (unless you're in some trading role which I'd imagine the hours aren't as great). if I'm being blunt, I'd look elsewhere if I had the luxury to.

 

Be careful for glassdoor interviews. Most professionals in AM would never post "reviews", most likely the reviews you are seeing are from people in phone roles who speak with customers regarding trading in their accounts and have their series 7,63 but are by no means in AM.

Having said that, what type of opportunity is this at Vanguard? If it is something in the AM department and you are right out of college and think AM is where you want to be (even if you decide otherwise in the future) then its probably a good idea to leverage your contact and go forward with it. Just follow brofessor's advice when you are there and get CFA, series 3, and whatever else to position yourself for a move in a few years.

 

Vanguard is a place where you really have to drink the kool aid. Also, it's like any other large organization, very beurocratic.

If you're going to spend your whole career there they hook it up with 401k and you will have a comfortable lifestyle. A lot of folks opt for a change and do quite well for themselves

I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold. I'll be fine once I get it
 

And your exit ops are 100% correlated to the role. Don't do client service and get stuck on the phones

I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold. I'll be fine once I get it
 

Vanguard is big in my area, really big. Plenty of people drink the Kool aid like @pktkid10 said and are lifers. I work with several ex-VGuard people here now, its great on a resume locally for similar positions, but I dont know about if you are tying to use it to break into the NY IB arena. If you are in the PHL area, it would be a good start if you can get the right role, and then move to a IB in center city or Wilmington DE (tons of banking). Just stay out of the call centers, they are underpaid, forced overtime and super high turnover due to no exit ops internally.

GTAA Mistmaker
 

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