Working at Fidelity Investments — Reviews by Employees

This is going to be a lot of useful information regarding Fidelity. I am a very happy employee and want to write something that somebody considering taking a job can learn from.

I started in the Covington, KY phone site about 2 1/2 years ago. The training is very involved. I started off in the service area (basically working with trading, maintenance, and general issues with customers). When you start off at Fidelity you are put through a 4-week training program going through the different systems that you will use on a daily basis. The training is done by people that have worked their way up through the role that you are taking on. They have been through the experiences and they know how it works. From that point you are put on to the phones for 20 hours a week with the other 20 hours per week spent studying for your Series 7 and 63. You spend this whole time with the same class (New Hire to Series 7 to other training programs). I was taught the Series 7 and 63 material from a person that actually wrote questions for the test itself. After you pass the exams you are put onto the phones full time before you go back in to training for Mutual Fund trading, then stock trading, then options trading. This is all very involved, taking 1-4 weeks per training. It's not a direct path though. For example you have to prove yourself as a stock trader before moving on to options trading. You are not limited during this time either, you can always apply for other positions if your manager feels as if you are ready.

After I became a stock trader I applied for jobs out on the East Coast at our branch locations. This is where I currently am. I am under one of the best managers at Fidelity (mark my words that he will be senior management within 10 years). He started off at the same spot as everybody else did. As did Tom Coogan (Senior VP of Branches) as did David Coyne (Senior VP of Sales) as did most of senior management. They do not just let you go and hope for the best. It is a constant improvement for yourself as a person and yourself as a professional and for the business as a whole. Fidelity employees are paid from the customer experience in most positions. There is variable compensation but the bottom line is that Fidelity put's customer's first and foremost. That is the way that financial services should be and the way that they have become a household name.

The pay at Fidelity is very competitive once you prove yourself. A current Account Executive (formerly known as Financial Planning Consultant) has a target compensation of $145k. If you are good and dedicated, you can make it to AE within 4 years fresh out of college. From there the Senior Account Executives can bring in $300k. These are not rare positions. You have to be good, you have to apply yourself, there is no free ride but it is not uncommon to make good money.

Best part of all is the benefits. You are matched 7% of your 401k and every January they put another 10% of your annual compensation into your 401k as profit sharing. You have all the medical benefits. They even professionally manage your 401k FOR FREE!!!!

I wish I could write more. I think it's an amazing opportunity. It's not for everybody but if you are up for a good challenging and rewarding career then Fidelity is a great place to go. You don't need to be top of the class Wharton grad, you just have to apply yourself and work hard for what you want. You get out of it what you put in.

Hope this helps!

Awful, Awful place to work. If the job market wasn't so bad I'd be gone already.

I am not sure who will read this but, I feel it only fair to give a true example of what you can encounter as a CSS Phone Rep with Fidelity at the Weston Parkway location.

In being a rep for just under 3 years I had the opportunity to become licensed, be recognized for various development opportunities, such as peer guiding, working on various internal projects, and working closely with other managers to gleen knowledge and gain experience. However, and this is the most important part: your manager can make or break you.

I was assigned to a manager who honestly has slept her way to the top. This is no exaggeration as a fellow colleague of mine intercepted an e-mail that was left up on her manager's computer describing the rendezvous with this person. Due to the fact that I became aware of this knowledge and because the individual did not like the fact that I was a "social leader" among my peers, she worked for over 6 months, the duration of my time under her, to have me fired.

Fidelity has a concept called "branding". It is basically a social morality tool that is used to address anything that a manager, director, or otherwise feels they can use to diminish your overall influence and skill set with the company. While this does help to ensure a professional work environment, in the wrong hands, it becomes dangerous. Sadly, I watched over the past 3 years, this tool used to fire, demote, or otherwise oust great people from opportunities that they would have otherwise been amazing at. Though my "brand" if you will, was a strong one, in just 6 months, it was assassinated by this manager and ultimately pushing me backwards in my career. I wish I could say that this was a random event from a rogue manager, but sadly, the culture at the Cary location has turned for the worst. I am not sure about other sites, but this has become the norm. Which is sad, because this was not he company that I knew and loved.

What I can say is this: if you know that you are intelligent, educated, and have the skills and drive to succeed, you can do it anywhere. Please really contemplate looking to Fidelity for a position within CSS- there is something out there for you! Keep looking, you will find it! Don't deter your career or your focus, but rather be studious in finding something that doesn't just pay decently, but will reward you for your efforts! Your worth it!

In short Fidelity Investments should be renamed-Re-branded to inFidelity Investments. So many persons there cheat on their others, this is because they never let you leave, you are their bitch. And if you don't like it they fire you on the spot and send your job to India.

Just say "NO"...In the long run it's better to either have unemployment or McDonalds to work for.

This is the worst company in the world really horrible people horrible training and horrible attitude they should be sued for bieng so racist worst company i have ever worked for buy far hated every minute of it.

Eight million people are out of work. No income, no food, no insurance, no home, etc. Some people should appreciate their employment. Count your blessing, do your job with a smile and you wont have time to be so bitter :D

Bunch of female contract workers under the Veritude arm run recruiting in the Raleigh area. They hate the job and generally each other but work together to keep new HR contractors out. Beware. They have no qualms throwing the newbie under the bus to keep Boston skirts happy. I believe one or two would even toss a fellow in front of a moving bus if it meant securing an extra sixth months with the company.

I worked in IT here for 7 years, supporting the fund management arm of the business. Required to carry a pager and cell phone at all times -- even when not "on call" -- and routinely had to field calls from incompetent coworkers in the middle of the night (for years, calling about the same things which they were simply too lazy to learn).

Huge amounts of time spent on the phone training offshore workers in India and, after 2 or 3 years, there was little to no improvement... I spent hours each week correcting their mistakes and doing damage control. The job itself was very specific to my particular department and not something you could simply staff with a random resource, which I and other coworkers conveyed over and over to the powers that be, to no effect. Management here doesn't have a clue.

I was repeatedly promised promotions and other opportunities for growth... all lies.

As has been noted, politics reign supreme here, which I suppose makes Fidelity the same as most large corporations.

In the end, I had just completed a week of on call, worked all Saturday and Sunday (15+ hours) upgrading servers and was fired on Monday (in the afternoon, after letting me work all day), supposedly for violating the Internet use policy (admittedly, I checked personal email in such a way that circumvented their blocks... as the job itself was mind-numbing and I needed an occasional distraction after doing the same exact thing for 7 years with zero opportunities for advancement... HR actively blocks one's efforts to move internally). Prior to this, I had always received outstanding performance reviews, excellent feedback from customers and had never been put on any kind of performance plan or probation. It is also interesting to note that I was terminated exactly 3 weeks before I would have been eligible to receive my year-end bonus. Coincidence?

I wasted the bulk of my 20s working for this organization and have nothing to show for it. Definitely feel "used," as others have noted. Would not recommend it to anyone.

After reviewing many of the posts from the past year, there seems to be a lack of entries from the FESCO side of the Fidelity business. For those of you who are reading this as a potential new hire or applicant, that means the 401k and workplace benefit division. At least I think that's what it is. Every day we have new management and you never know what department you're working for from one day to the next. When I was hired just under 3 years ago the first concept I learned in training was that the F in Fidelity stands for flexibility and that was not a lie. In three years I've had multiple team managers and directors have been shifted from place to place. These shifts were not because I advanced because there is no place to advance to unless you move across the floor to stay on the phone. It used to be that it was an advancement to move from 401k to pension but now that's a lateral move.

The positives about working in the customer service is the camaraderie that builds from everyone having the same experiences either with customers or life in general and the company benefits. For those who are wanting to finish a degree or start one you really can't beat 90% tuition reimbursement. The 7% 401k match is also a boost because you soon learn that you are the only person that will be able to control your retirement income so you might as well start early. Currently, CSS still has a quarterly performance bonus and we have annual increases. When call volume is down there is VTO so you don't have to feel miserable about having to stay chained to your desk while waiting for the next call. Idle hands are the devil's workshop and that leads to web surfing which is frowned upon. The less you know about the world and business then you aren't a threat.

The keys to success are to just do what's required and do it well. Don't worry about what you think about the change because next week it will change back to what you did before. If you can't go with the flow then this would definitely not be the job for you.

Fidelity is a good place to start your career in financial services. The pay is sub par but the benefits are nice. They paid for my bachelor's degree. Well, 90% of it which is a lot. I will say that most of the managers there are really not that interested in finance nor do they know a whole lot about investing in general, but they definitely know how to micromanage you which can become very aggravating. The best part about Fidelity is the people. most of the people who work there are tons of fun and are just using Fidelity as work experience before applying to grad school. The older people who are still at Fidelity are generally extremely unambitious and not that sharp. Fidelity is a place where a person can show up to work, take calls in a disengaged fashion and go home and watch TV. A lot of people get fat too, because a day of talking to Fidelity's clients leaves you completely unmotivated to get off the couch and go to the gym.
There are a few good managers at Fidelity who are underpaid and not recognized for what they do. As for the rest of them, well, they are not smart, they try to get people fired, they suck up to upper management like crazy, and did I mention that they are not that intelligent. I am referring to middle management by the way. There are many competent people in upper management.
I feel like my job is very secure. Very few layoffs through out this recession which was appreciated by many. There isn't a whole lot of growth potential at Fidelity. They prefer to bounce people around laterally with out pay increases or that much of a bonus increase either.
Honestly, you should just go there to get your series 7 and then get out as fast as you can so that you can work at a real firm and actually do something that matters. The job description for financial representatives at fidelity should read "reset PIN's for clients all day long everyday." That's pretty much what you do the whole time.
Well, take this review with a grain of salt. I tried to be as generous as possible, but I will say that if you want to do rewarding work Fidelity is not that place.