Pros
It is really hard to beat the PTO, bonus structure, office amenities, etc., so I will leave that part short and sweet and focus on the job itself. The gist of this role is you are taking inbound calls throughout the day. Depending on the time of the year you can get "offline time" to work on projects, shadow other departments, and ultimately work towards any role in the company you want to aim for. This is a career starter. This role in particular is a great spot to start, especially if you have no experience or degree related to finance. They pay you while you take your certification tests and train (more on that in the cons, but it's more constructive criticism) and the managers I've worked with have been exceptional. Like many other roles in the industry, they use a scorecard system to determine performance and if you focus on hitting your metrics you can get rewarded very well by the bonus. If you make it to your 18 months (you 100% can, unless you just cannot handle talking to 25-40 people a day) then you are opened up to so many roles that would otherwise be unattainable. Overall I am happy with my experience so far at TIAA. 2 years ago I did not really know what career path I would be heading down and now I have a new role lined up and a really good idea of what the next 10 years will look like for me. I think that speaks volumes as to the opportunity you can get in this role.
Cons
Definitely a few cons for this role, but they are not going to be TIAA specific for the most part. There's a lot of turnover (that's going to be the case in almost any inbound call center). Some people leave after a month on the phones, some people get their licenses and apply to other firms, a lot of promotion out of this role, so it's not all bad turnover. It does lead to some issues since it's just a hard role to have people stay at for longer than a year or two. Becasuse of the turnover they have an 18 month requirement before moving outside of the call center, but if you study (especially on your own time) and become somewhat of a subject matter expert you can work into the mentoring space which makes the job a lot more bearable. Training is included in the 18 months so really it is around 12-15 months of the actual job. Training is extensive but with TIAA there is a wide array of products and information you'll need to learn so a lot of people are still learning even out of training. There is a support line and teams chats to use for assistance, but it's really luck of the draw when it comes to that. It can be a frustrating job and the resources can be a bit of a hassle to sift through, especially when you're on a call. Your day is "micromanaged" aka you have X amount of hours you have to be available and it is tracked closely. This is going to be the case at almost any inbound call center role though, so more of a job critique and not TIAA. You will deal with angry participants, which I think is what scares off a lot of people. If you are good at what you do then these can actually turn into some of the more rewarding calls because you can see the impact you have as you work through and resolve their issues. You'll also speak to some very pleasant participants. It's a retirement services position so it's important to remind yourself that the same way you expect and depend on your paycheck every other Friday, the participants expect the same of us as this is their income. I think a lot of the negative stem from people just wanting a job where they work, it isn't too hard, they get paid, and they go home. Thats just not going to be the case with this at first so be prepared and know what to expect. You can do it and they will notice!