Pros
-You learn a lot about yourself and what is important to you in a career -If you want to be a working mom, it's probably fine -Pension plan (It's an investment - you need to be willing to stay for 7 years from your full-time hire start date.) -Comprehensive healthcare (no deductible when I worked there - because there'd be no way anyone could afford to pay one.) -Monthly 1 on 1s with your manager
Cons
They will work you like a dog for less than half of what you're worth. You won't make enough money to pay rent and student loans, so most employees are young women living at home (or married rich.) It results in a mental exhaustion that leaves you doubting yourself and makes it hard to find other jobs. Most employees are normally actively looking for work elsewhere, and when they leave, the other employees are left to pick up the pieces. Everyone is doing about 5 jobs, running from meeting to meeting. You need to be doing your current job and the next job up for about a year or two before you'll get the promotion to that job you've already been doing for a year. The culture is that of "big Vanguard" so you need to be a yes man and don't bring "negativity" by dissenting about anything. The bureaucracy to get anything done is extensive. If you're used to working for large corporations, then you'll be fine. But, things are very slow moving and there is no room for real innovation. From what I could gather while working there, the board rules the organization with an iron fist on budget (unless the real problem is that managers just don't want to advocate for their employees to get paid what they're worth.) "360 feedback" is done haphazardly, so it results in managers providing sometimes negative feedback on employees they've never worked with and it hurts that employee's ability to ever move up at the organization (unbeknownst to them sometimes.) The politics are intense, anxiety-inducing, and completely unnecessary. I really really love the mission of this organization, so I wish I could say working there was better. But, it drained me of life and caused negative impacts on my personal relationships outside of work. Leaving was the best decision I could make and I was able to double my salary by going elsewhere. You can't work from home, so the thought was "work can't follow me home." But I woke up routinely through the night with anxiety and a clenched jaw while working there, and it took months for that to go away when I started at my new job.