Charles Schwab Reviews in Austin, TX Area

Pros

Flexible with working from home when needed - great support when you need time off for "life".

Cons

Lots of red tape at times. Too many meetings. But worth it given the Pros.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep focusing on the postive, as you have. The "Strengths" based philosophy is phenominal, and will keep good employees (like myself) around.

Pros

1) They have a sabbatical program that allows a month off every 5 years. (I would rather just an extra week of vacation each year.)
2) San Francisco is a nice place to visit when you have to go into the corporate office.

Cons

1) Pay is not really competitive in the area.
2) The technology used at Schwab is outdated
3) The computers and internet are extremely locked down making it difficult to stay up to date on your industry or demo new tools. Even remote access is typically done through Citrix!
4) Employees don't feel empowered and often look to their supervisors for validation before making a decision.

Advice to Senior Management

Change your restrictions to technology. It is so restrictive, you will have a hard time getting and keeping high quality technology people. We like to stay informed on new technology (that is why we are high end) and your environment does not allow for this.

Pros

Charles Schwab invests heavily in employment development. The company pays for licensing, continued education, and accreditation. Time is given to study for most accreditation and licenses during regular business hours.

Cons

While Charles Schwab has built a reputable firm, it has lagged in technological advances, which can be frustrating for clients (and employees). The pay is not competitive for the industry, either.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to practice open communication and raise the pay to retain talent.

Pros

Schwab has great benefits including medical/dental. They provide vacation and sick time as well as a 4 week sabbatical every 5 years.

Cons

Schwab reorganizes way too much. I've had about 5 different managers in the last 3 years. They also promote just about anyone to management. Out of all of the managers I've had since I've started working there there was only one that was great at being a manager. Also, everyone I know there has said that they were only promoted when they started sucking up to their managers. Promotions are not based on ability as much as how much management likes or dislikes you personally.

Advice to Senior Management

I think management at Schwab needs to take more management training. They also need to realize that not everyone is cut out to be in management. Most technology people aren't going to be good at managing people and should stick with what they do best.

Pros

Good coworkers ( no very skillful but nice). Good benefits( but it does not make up for the low salary)

Cons

Schwab aquired the 401k company few years ago and this company (the 401k) was full of unskillful people (there are employers in the acct mgmt department that do not even know how to type) Schwab has done some cleaning but there is still a long way to go) they must get rid of some of the former 401k managers in order to keep good people.

Pros

- For the most part, very nice people.
- Shift work mentality. You leave/arrive on time and not called outside of that.

Cons

- Rewards tenure and not accomplishment or skills.
- Almost seems anti-education
- Co-workers are not growth oriented. Continuing or any education/training is lacking.

Advice to Senior Management

Reward results, not tenure. Many departments are packed to the rafters with people coasting to retirement. You can't run a modern company with people looking to do the minimum. Ditch the 360 reviews, way too much time wasted on this task.

Pros

Location in Austin
Co-workers
Project work
Financial services

Cons

Silo operation
Lack of training
Lack of technical support

Advice to Senior Management

Management is not accessible. Skip-level interviews are scheduled and not held. One-on-one meetings do not address employee issues; they are used to touch base on projects and reports.

Pros

If you want a J.O.B. where you do the same thing day in and day out with little/no regard for actual contributions for the bottom line, Schwab is the place for you.

Cons

As with many large corporations, as long as you appear to be coming in on time and wearing the appropriate attire without attentiveness to your actual performance, Schwab is the place for you.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay attention to your indians, as much as your chiefs. A leadership role shouldn't be a permanent vacation or a reward. In this market, it's "what have you done for me lately", and the people who do are the least recognized at this company.

Pros

Amazing benefits, the new modern biz casual (nice jeans, untucked shirts... on guy has a trimmed mo-hawk and tat's!) awesome equipment.. I have to 24" flat screens, a terabyte hard drive 8 gigs of ram (expandable to 16) etc, etc a PC for developing testing, clean offices, great people.

Cons

So far, there isn't any. Unless you live really far south since they have moved to off the 183.

Advice to Senior Management

Just keep your dynamic growing strategy and listening to those who actually produce.

Pros

-Extremely Professional, everyone (including Managers) is very friendly and helpful
-All other departments are eager and willing to help
-Client focused, reps are given tools and freedom to actually resolve issues
-Clean Facilities/ Breakrooms, free coffee, tea, etc
-Peer Recogintions
-Extensive Training
-Compaired to other centers, it is an excellent place to work
-Decent Pay, Good benefits, great 401(k) match and program (5%)
-Marketing is good. There is reason they are snatching up market share
-Most Clients love Schwab and usually do not wait on hold long. This means they are usually happy. You are not answering calls with people who had to wait 10+ minutes to talk to you.

Cons

-It is a call center. You take call after call, just part of the job.
-Technology is improving, but the systems are many and some are outdated.
-Scheduling isn't very flexible. Once you are on a team, it is difficult to "switch" shifts
-Non commission, so really no way to increase your pay
- BTW, if you want to advance, you have to let people/managers know and go meet people. Then you need to go learn about what it is you want to advance to. Example Rep to FC: go get your CFP or ChFC and then go apply for the job you want. Also go meet branch managers and ask them what they want in an FC. Schwab nor most companies won't hold your hand and give you a promotion just cause you are there.

Advice to Senior Management

Update your trading software for reps. You will significantly reduce trade errors.
Integrate your systems so reps only have to learn one or two platforms. This will significantly reduce training needs and allow you to use that time to teach reps to have better conversations with clients.