Charles Schwab Reviews in Phoenix, AZ Area

Pros

Smart, well-rounded people. Management was great, and I appreciated the consistent feedback in regard to job performance. I highly recommend them.

Cons

My training session was abbreviated, and you are committed to stay in the position for a minimum of 18 months before being able to apply elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide a better incentive structure to employees that will motive them to take on more responsibility and accountability within the department.

Pros

- Good work life balance (you can almost get away with doing nothing)
- Good benefits
- Usually friendly people

Cons

- Compensation/Incentives package highly prohibitive (if you are towards the bottom of the pay range, you'll never catch your peers towards the upper end of the spectrum, regardless of how hard you work. The program favors the company.)
- Promotions into management nearly impossible unless you are one of the chosen few. Career paths have been defined and leadership development programs exist, but don't lead to growth opportunities.
- Middle management filled with yes men, don't expect your boss to set up to bat for you.
- Absence of mentoring and guidance to help individuals develop their skills and prepare for the next step of their career. Classes offered by Schwab's training department, but again don't lead to positive outcomes for employees.
- Management prescribes to the philosophy that engaged and happy employees will work for lower pay because of high job satisfaction. They forget a large number of employees are supporting families on less than $50K a year, which is pretty tough - I guess money isn't everything but it is pretty important when you practically live paycheck to paycheck.
- Not a growth company, resulting in limited growth opportunities and directions to move your career.
- Hiring managers are often unresponsive to internal applicant's request for informational interviews.
- Knowledge, skill, and abilities, get you nowhere; to be successful you need to communicate with force, confidence, and the assumption you are right (it is more important to be right than to do the right thing).
- Schwab is a classic bureaucracy, very conservative and risk averse.
- Recognition and appreciation are trivial and on the verge of insulting, unless you are in second grade.

Advice to Senior Management

Schwab is a great company and does fantastic things for its clients, but middle management does not adequately represent the front lines to senior leadership which is creating a unfavorable culture.

Pros

Close to home. Nice campus. Most peers seems nice and very willing to help out. Really my peers were the best part of the job. Some people dont mind call center jobs, this on is probably better because of no outbound calls.

Cons

As Im sure you heard salary is ridiculously low and very little other incentitives. Its a promotion if you take a lateral move with no pay increase. Unhealthy static work environment as you are tied to your desk and phone for 98% of the day taking call after call . 30 min lunch. Expensive and nasty cafeteria. It's a cost/call center where efficincy is the priority. Pay will always be low and every ounce of producitvity will be squeezed from you.

Advice to Senior Management

Throw everything out the window and start over.

Pros

Opportunity to grow and obtain additional experience and licenses.

Cons

Salary is very low. Difficult to achieve additional salary as overtime is limited and reps are not paid any commissions.

Advice to Senior Management

Allow employees to give feedback without tracking comments to individual managers.

Pros

Starting to change position on employee creativity and expression, granted you have to have a non-linear type of position. Which really just is a reference to competency.

Cons

Far too slow moving. Certain parts of the organization can't reverse direction fast enough. News could be better. And they keep it all on a tight leash, gimme a break!

Advice to Senior Management

My statement is that I refuse to write anything for any manager to emote and consider. This is a non statement

Pros

I am impressed by the training and Schwab's managers. They will go out of their way to make sure you are happy. Lots of room to move around and advance.

Cons

The salary structure is just ok. Not really competitive with other financial firms. Many employees move around which could disrupt a team.

Advice to Senior Management

I would encourage management to increase the salary's for mid level employees who could perhaps be making more money eleswhere.

Pros

--Flexible working with option to telecommute
--Best Benefit package, 401k matching and health
--very friendly colleagues
--no micro management
--stock options

Cons

--technology not consistent across departments
--direction from leadership is missing
--interaction among different team is absent
--average skill among senior employees
--you will hardly learn anything from senior employees
--positions based on seniority not skills

Advice to Senior Management

--give strategic leadership
--encourage managing directors to update themselves with new technology
--reduce redundancy among some team. try to consolidate

Pros

Nice people
Clean building
Good soup in the cafeteria
Free hand sanitizer containers
Good benefits
Good work / life balance
Company will allow you get any licenses you'd like (even those that aren't required for your job)
Employee Appreciation Week is entertaining

Cons

Low pay
Difficult to advance
Many departments are offshoring or are about to start offshoring positions
Morale is low
30 minute lunches
Our department is constantly bullied by other departments instead of acting like we are "One Schwab"
You will take on far more responsibilities than you're supposed to and will not get a raise

Advice to Senior Management

If you are offshoring positions in your department, please do not tell us its because 'there were no qualified workers' in the location you were searching for. Just tell us you were trying to save money instead of lying to our faces.

Pros

If you're starting out in the financial services industry, it's a place to get your series 7 and 63 designations. It's a job with a pay check.

Cons

It's very easy to get burned out at Schwab. You are in charge of knowing the mechanics of many different departments, answer questions, take esculated calls and make sales . Much responsibility for very low compensation.
Schwab knows how to treat their clients right too bad it doesn't treat it's employees with the same respect.
There is very little chance for advancement. Promotions are based on who you know and how well you're liked by your manager, and not on your performance or how well the customers rate you.
There's really no incentive to do better. No wonder why the turnover rate is so high.
I am very glad that I quit and went somewhere that respects and compensates it's employees accordingly.

Advice to Senior Management

Promote managers that have managerial skills and not on how popular they are. This is a financial institution and not high school.

Pros

The salary range is above average

Cons

The politics at this company cannot be navigated by an outside new employee.

Advice to Senior Management

HR Leadership needs to be changed for the Phoenix location.