Edward Jones Reviews in Phoenix, AZ Area

Pros

No limitation on what you can achieve.

Cons

Door to door selling is difficult.

Advice to Senior Management

Offer a longer time for trainees to get their series 7 liscense.

Pros

Very strong culture and ethics. The firm protects its associates and I have never been worried about my position being eliminated even through the financial crisis. Being privately held allows the firm to have a clear long term vision.

Cons

Compensation is very low compared to similar positions in the industry. Moving up in the ranks within the firm further decreases your earning power especially if you move up quickly.

Advice to Senior Management

Allow more freedom for direct leadership to compensate individuals fairly who perform at a high level. Too many strong associates are leaving to go to other firms that are willing to pay.

Pros

They have a decent cafeteria.

Cons

Stay away from Insurance Services. If you are not part of the clique you will either be invisible or constantly harassed. I have yet to receive an accurate review.

Advice to Senior Management

There was some really good talent "let go" this year. Agendas are getting in the way of improvement. An investigation into the department leadership is warranted. The right people are NOT in the right seats driving this bus.

Pros

You will sit behind a computer all day long and have the opportunity to listen to your iPod if you desire. Also, management is pretty flexible when it comes down to start/stop time of your day.

Cons

Edward Jones claims to be a non-micromanaged workspace...that is a lie. If you like listening to our iPod very loud, this could be the place to work for you, because management is very loud and obnoxious when it comes down to socializing. If you are into management, then Tempe will be a good fit for you, if you want to get into Finance or Accounting, then you will have to move to St. Louis.

Advice to Senior Management

If you want your associates to minimize their time socializing, then maybe you should lead with example. Honor promises that are made during one-on-ones...failure to meet goals is a total turn off to your employees.

Pros

Benefits were good and compensation was great for what I did. They really do understand when you have something personal going on and they work with you when you need time off or switch schedules, etc.

Cons

It seemed like you HAVE to be involved in ALL the activities outside of your normal job duties in order to advance. And communication between departments was frustrating as most of the time there was none.

Advice to Senior Management

Communication is key! With so many meeting between leaders, I would hope departments had better communication.

Pros

You make your own schedule. A good place to start if you are just out of college.

Cons

If you have industry experience, you will likely be disappointed. Compensation is lower than most other companies. Highly un-profesional. You will frequently experience that one hand of the company does not talk to the other.

Pros

Thorough Interview process.
Many opportunities to feel out company and ask questions.
Able to get feedback from many current employees.
Upon hire, you are able to choose top two cities to work in.

Cons

Lengthy process.
Must conduct multiple phone interviews, a door to door questionnaire, and a face to face interview. Upon completion you must wait a couple weeks to hear a decision.

Advice to Senior Management

Interview process went well.

Pros

Great Training for series 7 & 66
Pay with benefits while training (minimal but it helps)
Training and testing paid by company
A lot of support

Cons

Door knocking, technology is aging in equipment, software and mindset.

Advice to Senior Management

Take the money spent "covering" new FA expenses the first 3 years and spend it on advertising, initial salaries, mentor programs, pairing new FAs with established offices and lead generation. The turn over rate will be far less than it is and the company will see higher profits in return.
Turn new FAs loose after they have built up their client base working in an office from leads generated from corporate. If they are profitable before their office opens then the office expenses will be covered when they get their office.

Pros

Job security, consistent firm growth, constant learning of financial aspects, firm/vendor policies and transactional processes. You can choose to work directly with clients/prospects as the Financial Advisor (FA) or as the Branch Office Administrator (BOA) or if you prefer you can support the over 12,000 US branches in a corporate environment with offices located in Tempe, AZ and St. Louis, MO. I think the FA and BOA positions are for people who want to do have virtually the same job functions for the long term and home office associate positions are for people that prefer climbing the corporate ladder, having a variety of job functions throughout their career.

Cons

As a BOA, there is not much room for career advancement. If you meet the requirements, you can get promoted to Senior BOA, other than that you may take on your region's leadership roles such as Regional Leader BOA, Regional Meeting Coordinator, BOA Mentor Coordinator and so on.

Advice to Senior Management

I think with the help of everyone in the firm, we weathered the financial storm last year with minimal difficulty and we continue to make improvements to our systems and procedures for the benefit of our clients as well as our associates.

Pros

Fiscally responsible culture therefore in down market times, its a good stable organization to work for. Benefits are fair and there are opportunities to move into the sales force if you wish to do so. Great place to start off and learn the business

Cons

If you are not identified as a potential future leader in the first 6 months you are working for the firm, it is a slow and arduous process to advance within the firm. Many people take 3-5 years to move into the most entry level management position. High biased for promotions into middle and senior management to those who were former Investment representatives.

Advice to Senior Management

Practice what you preach - there needs to be an incentive for existing associates to want to stay with the firm and develop rather than watching you hire for leadership positions from outside of the firm. People work for more than money (which is clearly shown by your pay scale) therefore when you are in a market such as this, give extra credit and incentive to those associates who did not get raises for a year or could not move from department to department because of hiring freezes and let them have a competitive advantage in open positions of leadership