Pros
They pay for SIE, Series 7, and Series 63 certifications. They also pay you while you study. Managers at the AVP level actually seem to care about each individual’s success. They hire a lot of people straight out of college. It’s a great place to start out one’s career in finance.
Cons
MS employees, who work in the same office and do essentially the same job, make about 10% more. They also take far fewer calls, can choose which days they work in-office, and get to work “normal” hours. Very high turnover from stress of just being thrown onto the phones. Burnout! Little to no idle time between calls. Adherence! Accidentally code to break instead of meal? You’re screwed for the day. Low pay ($55k) in Tampa. Management pushes aggressive sales tactics on every call. If a client has $50k+, you better be able to get them to agree to speak with a Morgan Stanley rep! There is no instruction at all for Series exams. You are given a schedule and access to STL, but no actual instruction. Aside from my first day, I didn’t see a supervisor for over a month. My original manager was in another state. It was extraordinarily strange coming into work everyday and just sit in a room and studying without anyone ever coming to check up on progress or difficulties. Everyone is told this is a financial services position, but it’s also a sales position, just with no commission.