Pros
Able to determine own hours No "boss" breathing down your neck Personal office and office staff Earnings potential Paid to study and take all required tests to acheive licenses.
Cons
Extremely hard to 'make it' if starting from scratch (as opposed to a vet giving a portion of his/her book). Earnings calculator on public website (www.edwardjones.com) is a gross over-estimation! For young professionals attempting to start their first carreer, unless spouse is able to work and make good money, Edward Jones is not the place for you. Health Benefits are poor compared to other employers. Low payout of commissions 95% sales and 5% advising in first few years. Must be willing to spend long hours as a door-to-door salesman in first few years and again later in your career if/when there is an extended bear market. Must be willing to sell anything to anyone at all times in order to meet production goals in order to acheive bonuses since these bonuses are a large part of one's yearly earnings. Spend most of your working hours alone or getting rejected by people in your community - very lonely job with not much community from co-workers. Must be willing to work nights and weekend. If you leave the firm within the first three years of your license registration, you will not be able to re-register your series 7 license with another firm, thus forcing you out of the industry completely for a period of time. Do not use Edward Jones to "get started" and assume that you can change jobs in a few years. Edward Jones will come after you to recover their training/licensing costs. This could be as much as $75,000 - not a joke!!