Charles Schwab reviews

If you're starting out in IT you're going to be here awhile (3-5 years) before you advance one pay-grade level; make no mistake about it. The opportunities to advance are slim if you don't like to move around from state-to-state. They tend not to pay for the moving expenses either. A lot of people would say that Schwab is not a place for self-starters or self-motivated individuals, but I disagree. This place is NOT a place where they push you to advance nor do they provide a clear advancement path. You really have to LOOK for the information necessary to advance. Everyone here is mostly interested in sticking around for 9-10 years without going anywhere in their career, that bothers me. If you're the self-motivated type, then you have plenty of resources available here to learn all you can to get a better IT job at another company. I look at this company as a great "launch pad" for your IT career. IT advancement from entry level is abysmal at best, unless you're the type that likes to go state hopping. New IT positions only open up whenever someone at a higher level decides to leave. If you're young and you want to advance quickly in IT this is not the place to be. You're better off at a small to mid-cap growing tech company. On the other hand you can use the time here to study-up, rack up a few certifications, get job experience on a few projects, and go somewhere else. This process make take a little longer. It will definitely test your patience, but if you're motivated enough it's a great investment in your future in IT. The culture at Schwab in IT is the complete opposite from the culture in Financial side. The financial side is very egalitarian. You have be good at building a consensus among your peers and learn to be a true-blue team player. If you're the individualist type you'll find it tough to fit in. I would recommend the Financial Consultant role here if you want to do things your own way, otherwise...pucker-up. The tech side, in my opinion, is very entrenched. People here tend to stick around for a LONG time. Here's how the turnover works: 1) Entry-level: high turnover 2) Mid-level: very low turnover 3) High-level: moderate turnover. You can see how it could be difficult to move up once you've managed to lock-in an entry level job. There's a definite "bottle-neck". In summary, this company is definitely not the place to be a "star" employee. Things tend to move slow here because of the company's size and shift from an entrepreneurial culture to a typical corporate behemoth. The egalitarian culture can diminish your personal ambitions very quickly.

They hire almost anyone w/professional background into a Sr. Manager role, and there's no room to grow except director at the next level, and those jobs are far and few between.