Raymond James Financial Reviews

Pros

Raymond James was a great place to work because they continued to push me professionally. The legal team was, at that time, a good fit for everyone. Continuing our education was paramount and I enjoyed the various challenges of assisting counsel in the high risk cases I was assigned.

Cons

There weren't many. I found the salary pay scale was average, and I would have expected it to be higher than average considering Raymond James is one of the top premiere businesses in Tampa Bay.

Pros

Work from home days, employees are friendly and that includes most of the mid-level management. Not a hard job for an average IT employee. Good learning available to learn the business. Not a lot of overtime. If you like art work, you can't beat RJ as every wall has paintings. Largest collection in the south east US. Stable company, no layoffs.

Cons

In IT (software engineers), learning about the business is not mentioned or pushed. Technical growth to keep up with the industry is severely lacking. Book shelves of IT books from the 90's. Many of the SE III an IV have never used design patterns. If you want some new technology, this is not the place. Very mainframe/waterfall mindset. Overall, good managers if they have a technical background. Otherwise, they do more harm than good.
No gym that is close by and no interest from the company in fixing that situation.
The good people stay for awhile, get bored then leave. Salary is below average.

Advice to Senior Management

Get serious about IT training and that includes learning the business. When we do "lessons learned" take that knowledge and apply it. We keep making the same mistakes over and over. The new NE management's answer is to lower everyone's review a notch or two to send a message with no substance that has made it down to the people that do the work. Give us the opportunity to move forward with training and other perks to keep the good talent. Lowering everyone's review = much lower bonus/salary increase by itself is not going to work.

Pros

People are friendly on the surface and generally very polite. Management is very effective at convincing employees that this is a good place to work.

Cons

Low pay. Poor benefits. No meaningful contribution to retirement. Employees are expected to work long hours for no reward. Scheduled vacation can be denied at the last minute. Many members of IT management have no technical training. Workers suffer as a result of poor management decisions. Employees are broken down instead of being lifted up. Moral is getting lower.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your home office employees better. If you want the best, pay for the best. Offer some retirement benefits.

Pros

Raymond James is strong firm that take a very conservative approach to its business practices and in the deals it participates. The independent braches have lots of flexibility in most of the operations and are relatively autonomous while having a strong corporation to support it.

Cons

Raymond James' conservative policies sometimes get in the way of undertaking trades or investments that are seen as too aggressive.

Advice to Senior Management

Being that I worked in a small office that essentially ran like a hedge fund, I was extremely satisfied with the head of our firm. They offered an environment that was conducive to learning and provided many opportunities for growth.

Pros

The culture is amazing. There are several events and programs that encourage employee growth, charitable events and just plain fun (ask someone about Halloween). Some of the most flexible and understanding managers I've ever worked for. Very stable even without comparing them to other businesses in the industry. They are very conservative in decision-making in order to control and maintain growth.

Cons

All that said, there is very little pay in any career paths that don't directly involve trading. For some, the cultural and non-monetary compensations stop making up for the gap in pay with respect the responsibilities they are asked to take on. Promotions are also done only once a year - so it's easy to be doing the work of a position for most of a year and not be paid for it until December. And even then, if the pool of budgeted money runs out, you could be waiting another year. I've also seen a failure to deliver on reimbursement for continuing education, even when it directly applies to the position.

Advice to Senior Management

Realize that while being conservative has enabled you to stay afloat through some truly traumatic economic events, you are also losing amazing talent by not loosening the belt just a little.

Pros

It is a very conservative and safe company. They do not have a history of layoffs or job reductions. Safe bet.

Cons

The promotion process is not very slow due to the fact that the work force is not really that skilled within the company. It is very silo'd (sp?)

Advice to Senior Management

More cross training and things that would broaden each individual associate experience within the company would be very beneficial. As is, the system does not allow for a comprehensive understanding of the business.

Pros

A lot of opportunity to learn. Senior management is very accessible. Everyone is on a first name basis. The CEO will get lunch in the cafeteria and stand in line like everyone else.

Cons

Like anything, each person's experience will be determined mostly by his or her immediate supervisor. And like everywhere, there are good managers and there are bad managers.

Pros

Great upper management and corporate resources

Cons

Smaller firm, less opportunities for transfer and travel.

Advice to Senior Management

More information regarding long and short term goals

Pros

The company is in a good location. They are stable and conservative. I believe in the services they offer and the employees have the clients' best interest in mind.

Cons

It is next to impossible to transfer within the firm. Highly qualified candidates remain stagnant in their roles. They prefer to hire from the outside. Having said that, HR can't seem to find qualified candidates. I know they are applying but they are not at all efficient at bringing them in. The departments remain short staffed as a result and it effects the other employees. It is definitely a boys' club. If you are female or in a minority, you won't obtain a high level job. It is "who you know" when it comes to promotions. The pay is fairly low even though the cost of housing is extremely high and overall cost of living is high.

Advice to Senior Management

I am not sure where to start. It seems unusual that there are multiple James family employees working at the firm, but they had to hire multiple people from the outside to run the place. For example, the CEO, the head of HR, the CAA are all outsiders. Why didn't Tom James train one of his sons. I guess it is proof they prefer to hire external candidates than promote from within.

Pros

Raymond James is a comfortable place to work for someone in the investment industry, many areas are team-based and everyone tends to look out for each other for that reason.

Cons

Not the easiest commute for anyone in Hillsborough County (as this campus is in Pinellas - St. Pete area); guaranteed to spend a bit of time in traffic both coming and going.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to utilize and take feedback on the newer performance system, overall I feel it's a good step in the right direction.