A great place to end your career, not so great to start out - Information Systems Engineer Vanguard Employee Review

3.0
Jul 26, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The benefits are amazing considering the current health care enviornment. They also have a generous tuition reimbursement program compared to other companies. Vanguard is also very good at training. They bring a lot of vendors in house to do training, but will also allow external training if there is a need. The people are amazing. Peers and management seem as if the have a genuine personal interest in you well-being, creating a very friendly and laid back workplace. If you have an interest in learning more about the investment management space (even if it is not your primary function), there are a number of webcasts and podcasts that in house finance gurus publishes that you can learn from.

Cons

The base pay is not that great, and bonuses are horrible for people hired after 2004. The IT side is very top heavy, causing promotion issues all the way downstream. In order to get a promotion at any level, your manager and senior manager have to be willing to take a bullet for you. It all goes back to who you know, the stronger your network, the better off you are. There has been a very big push for diversity recently, but Vanguard is not that diverse at the principal or managing director level. Management only tells you what they want to tell you

Explore other reviews about Vanguard

5.0
Mar 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good culture Good work life balance Great Benefits

Cons

Location is far from Philly Hard to gain large pay jumps

3.0
Jun 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Awesome coworkers for young professionals. Paid licensing for a few months.

Cons

Micromanagement is out of control. Incompetent team leaders who are obsessed with power and metrics. Back to back calls, limited support, and nearly impossible effective communication between departments. Zero time to cultivate culture because you are taking calls every second of the day except for 30min/1hr lunch and two 15 minute breaks. You’re locked into your role for over a year (apprenticeship for around 60 days, then a year after promotion to associate) and your team leaders will not approve internal applications unless you are “eligible”.

4
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