Culture Archives - Vanguard Careers

A legacy of educators

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

Women’s History Month 2022

Making technology accessible for all

Career opportunities, Day in the Life, Voyage to Vanguard Entry-level Phone Group

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Why we changed careers

Living my passion in diversity recruiting

How my interest in personal finance paved a path to my Vanguard career

From ballet to finance

My personal development journey through Vanguard Toastmasters

July 6, 2022/in Culture, Training & education /by manikantashetty

My personal development journey through Vanguard Toastmasters

As a bilingual professional living and working in the US for almost twenty years, it has been an enriching experience to adopt English as a second language and practice public speaking; however, I rarely thought about how heavily I depended on filler words to help me connect phrases. About three months after joining Vanguard, I was asked to participate with my peers on a Town Hall presentation for our department. I was anxious and a bit petrified. One of my leaders mentioned she had noticed my use of “ums” and “uhs” throughout the presentation and shared best practices for improvement. I knew this is something I would continue to focus on both inside and outside of work.

Later, I met a colleague through a networking event at Vanguard, and in his company profile, I noticed he was the President of Toastmasters International and involved with our organization’s local chapter, Vanguard Toastmasters –Voicing Great Ideas. He invited me to come to a Toastmasters meeting as a guest. I immediately connected with their mission of improving public speaking skills, while building leadership and organization skills. Once I signed up to be a member, I started participating in activities such as “Table Topics,” in which you have 1 to 2 minutes to respond to questions selected at random, and taking on roles such as “Ah counter,” where I had to count the number of times members use filler words. Through this experience, I became more self-aware, and developed confidence and poise over time. The warm and friendly environment our club offers was key to making me feel comfortable and encouraged me to improve my skills. I also signed up for the “Pathways” program, which allows members to leverage other competencies, such as project management, leadership development, and online meeting management, just to name a few.

When the pandemic hit, we were afraid of the impact it would have on our club. Thankfully, we have been able to pivot to an “all online” format, where we’ve adapted our style to meet the new norm of presenting virtually, ultimately enhancing our skills further.

I have been a member of Vanguard Toastmasters – Voicing Great Ideas for a few years now, taking on several roles. This experience has helped me advance my career. From interview preparation, to presentation mastery, Toastmasters has trained me to become a better communicator and has allowed me to meet wonderful colleagues. I look forward to our weekly meetings and to seeing all the friendly faces that have supported me over the years.

– Monica D.

More career blogs you may have missed

#LifeAtVanguard

A legacy of educators

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

Women’s History Month 2022

Making technology accessible for all

Career opportunities, Day in the Life, Voyage to Vanguard Entry-level Phone Group

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Why we changed careers

Living my passion in diversity recruiting

How my interest in personal finance paved a path to my Vanguard career

From ballet to finance

Proud sponsor for Reaching Out MBA

June 22, 2022/in Culture, Diversity & inclusion /by jortega

Proud sponsor for Reaching Out MBA

Vanguard was a proud Gold Sponsor for the Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) Out Women in Business (OWIB) Conference. The Out Women in Business Conference brought the LGBTQIA+ community together to educate, inspire, and connect future generations of women in business. For many of the attendees, it was the first chance to come together in-person after more than two years of being virtual. A celebration of visible community and representation, OWIB featured speakers from a number of companies, including Vanguard’s own Kate Pope, Senior Manager in the Office of the General Counsel, and Kim-An Hernandez, Principal in the Finance division.

In this blog, we wanted to capture the perspectives of our crew who were able to attend. We asked them a few questions about their experience and were thrilled with the positive feedback we received. Here is what they had to say:

“Romba’s OWIB event provided an incredible opportunity to connect, network, and share what #LifeAtVanguard means to me. Attending alongside our Out Professional Engagement Network (OPEN) colleagues was the highlight, as it was my first time meeting many of them in person versus on a screen. It also provided deeper connections and sense of community.”
– Krista D.

“I love the networking aspect of meeting people from other organizations. This is extremely helpful for recruiting and getting the Vanguard story out there, as well as learning from peers in other companies, industries and regions so we can continually raise the bar in both the work we do at Vanguard and our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) journey.”
– Jill O.

“The energy, diversity, and passion in the room created such a refreshing sense of belonging and connection. I especially loved hearing stories from all these talented and courageous women from different backgrounds. Hearing each person’s “hustle” or goal they’re working toward was most impactful to me. It was energizing being surrounded by a community of like-minded people. I’m so proud to be part of a company that values this community and works to lift up these voices.”
– Mary O.

Vanguard crew gathered at recruiting booth at Out Women in Business 2022 event.

More career blogs you may have missed

#LifeAtVanguard

A legacy of educators

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

Women’s History Month 2022

Making technology accessible for all

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Living my passion in diversity recruiting

Our top careers blogs from 2021

Making the leap to a second career—again

Culture, In the community

Every ____ counts

Crew benefits, Culture

Gratitude for friends and colleagues

Culture, Diversity & inclusion, In the community

Vanguard wins award for pro bono work

Diversity & inclusion

Coming out- On repeat

Day in the Life, Diversity & inclusion Financial Advisor

De corazón a corazón, we are a family together

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Diversity & inclusion

Pride and inclusion in a local community

A legacy of educators

May 25, 2022/in Culture, Our mission, Voyage to Vanguard /by jortega

A legacy of educators

As the granddaughter of an engineering professor and nursing teacher, education has always been top of mind for me; it’s integral to who I am as a person and my family values. My dream career throughout childhood was to become an art teacher; visions of paint splattered denim overalls and school murals of ‘Starry Night’ fueled the many educational pursuits of my youth, leading to my choice of a small, creative liberal arts school for college.

Fast forward several years later… Imagine my surprise to be working at a financial services company! Armed with a dual degree in Art History and French, I remember anxiously Google searching, “What is a mutual fund?” prior to my Vanguard interview. That day, I was pleasantly surprised to hear my interviewer share that, “We have world class professionals here to teach you finance. What we’re looking for are candidates who know how to speak to people.” With that comment in mind, I took to the familiar task of learning. Studying for my Series 7 and 63 licenses were the first requisites prior to starting my first role – a challenge that while at first intimidating, ultimately fueled my desire to further my acumen in the investment industry. Shortly thereafter, I pursued my Certified Financial Planner® designation in order to further my credentials and to feel confident in the complex tax conversations I was having with clients. Together, these steppingstones culminated in my current role as the Service Recovery Supervisor in our Education Savings Contact Center, where I am able to continue learning, growing, and investigating unique client situations daily.

This position also gives me the distinct pleasure of serving in a role with a mission that resonates with me deeply: to improve the lives of our account owners with investments for education. One of the most common investment goals (second only to retirement), is saving for education, and an ambition that I connect to on a personal level. And though very different from where I envisioned myself, I love coming to work every day to help resolve issues for those seeking to meet their education goals – whether saving for college, looking to help a grandchild through their K-12 schooling, or even chipping away at student loan debt.

This year my husband and I welcomed a beautiful baby boy, and with eyes to the horizon, we opened our own 529 account for him in celebration. The balance is still modest for the moment, but I feel confident given the same reassurances we give our account owners day-in and day-out: every little bit will count, and we have the benefit of time on our side.

— Lauren H-F.

More career blogs you may have missed

#LifeAtVanguard

Culture, Training & education

My personal development journey through Vanguard Toastmasters

Advice from crew, Career opportunities, Our mission Financial Advisor

Proud sponsor for Reaching Out MBA

Vanguard Dallas: New city, big vision

A legacy of educators

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

Women’s History Month 2022

Advice from crew, Career opportunities, Our mission

Vanguard Dallas: Join our team of advisors

Making technology accessible for all

Career opportunities, Day in the Life, Voyage to Vanguard Entry-level Phone Group

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Why we changed careers

Living my passion in diversity recruiting

How my interest in personal finance paved a path to my Vanguard career

From ballet to finance

Our top careers blogs from 2021

Making the leap to a second career—again

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

May 11, 2022/in Crew benefits, Culture, Day in the Life /by jortega

Sperry_Talli_17- final 2017 professional photo (2)

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first–time Mom

As I sat down at my desk to write this blog, I landed upon a “puff” baby snack. Rather than feeling frustration at the crumbs, I was surprised to find myself smiling- because I’m learning that balancing work and motherhood can be messy… but beautiful too.

Leading an ultra-high net worth wealth management business and sponsoring the launch of a private investment product, all with an infant on my lap, was not how I pictured my career. Given my degrees in the arts, a career at an investment management company didn’t even seem in the realm of possibility. So, the idea of doing it all while holding my baby would never have occurred to me- outside of a random fantasy about living a functional version of Diane Keaton’s Baby Boom boardroom scenes.

Yet, my arts background has made me comfortable with and invigorated by ambiguity—I find joy in the strategy needed to launch a business solution—as it provides me with the opportunity to create. So, when I got the beautiful surprise of my first child shortly after I’d been given one of my biggest career opportunities leading a heavily investment-focused project, I was excited… and then I panicked about whether I could balance my new normal.

Thankfully conversations with my bosses and mentors helped me realize that I could be a good mom and keep my career going. I’m still amazed that amidst the biggest assignment of my career, I was able to take a fully paid four-month maternity leave and return to pick my work up right where I left off.

Now in my mid-forties, I often find myself cuddling my infant daughter (and at times feeding her puff baby snacks, thus the crunch as I sat down today) during work meetings about Vanguard’s Family Office Wealth Management business, Family Legacy Services, and Private Equity …and I love it. The quirky mix warms my heart. I’m forever grateful to work for an organization that never denied me career opportunities, even as I balanced the joyous shock of my dream-come-true life event of becoming a mother. Vanguard has never wavered on its commitment to help me learn and grow, and to present awesome career opportunities as I lean in.

As a working mom, who cares passionately about her career and utterly adores (and never wants to miss a moment of) her daughter, Vanguard is the place I want to be. A life of baby puffs and big presentations works for me.

— Talli H.

More career blogs you may have missed

#LifeAtVanguard

A legacy of educators

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

Support group "breaks down the stigma"

Women’s History Month 2022

Vanguard’s innovative benefits support your well-being your way

Making technology accessible for all

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Living my passion in diversity recruiting

Our top careers blogs from 2021

Making the leap to a second career—again

Culture, In the community

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Celebrating our crew scholars

Women’s History Month 2022

March 30, 2022/in Career opportunities, Culture, Day in the Life /by nitesh

Women’s History Month 2022

Each year on March 8 we celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) to honor the achievements of women, in a variety of fields, throughout history and across nations. March also happens to be Women’s History Month in the United States.

In recognition of both International Women’s Day (IWD) and Women’s History Month, Vanguard’s Women’s Initiative for Leadership Success (WILS) hosted events and programs focusing on a bold theme: “Break the Bias.” The mission behind this year’s theme was to demystify and confront one major bias against women in corporate environments across all industries: the gap between women and men being perceived as strategic thinkers.

Through live speaker events, career progression programs, and company-wide discussions, crew engaged with each other across virtual platforms. Many also participated in a #BreakTheBias campaign by posting photos striking the IWD pose to show their commitment to calling out gender bias and stereotyping.

Lastly, WILS also took this opportunity to recognize and celebrate “women we admire” through a spotlight series. Take a moment to read the insights these crew members shared about their personal career experiences in being strategic thinkers and best practices for breaking gender biases.

Nitu G.
Product Architect in Europe

Nitu opens up about the importance of building a collective vision: “As architects, a lot of our work requires shaping the longer-term strategic architecture vision. For me, formulating a strategic vision can only happen when you take the time to talk to stakeholders and subject matter experts, and take a genuine interest in understanding what they do, what our clients do, and the challenges they face. It’s important to keep focused on understanding the bigger picture and uncovering the core challenges so that you can then collaboratively and strategically figure out what needs to be achieved. Collaboration is the key to shaping your own thinking and that of others. I always remind myself that having strategic vision is meaningless unless it can be driven forward. The best way to do that is for everyone to be part of the same journey and build the vision together.”

Danielle C.
Co-head of PAS High Net Worth Advice and Advice Support Group

Offering guidance to those interested in strengthening their strategic thinking skillset, Danielle shares, “Strategic thinking comes down to how you approach making decisions and considering trade-offs. A few tips: 1. Start with growing your experience working with data. Then, determine how to use data to tell a compelling story. 2. Frameworks, like hypothesis trees, are helpful to tell a story and show how you came to a decision. Read books and articles on decision-making and hang onto memos and presentations on the subject, as you never know when they will come in handy. 3. Think about altitude, time, and scope. 4. Finally, verbalize your thought process. Don’t keep all that great strategic thinking locked up inside your head! Communicate clearly and transparently to your peers, directs, and leaders. This helps bring your stakeholders along.

Ayana P-B.
Head of Emerging Talent and Diversity Recruiting Strategy

Touching on this year’s IWD theme, Ayana shares, “The “break” in break the bias implies interruption. To interrupt patterns of behavior takes humility, courage, and an openness to both learn and teach. For women on a path to develop strategic thinking and break the bias, I’d encourage you to speak up and shine your light to the fullest! Show your expertise, share your knowledge, actively listen, and dynamically engage. You can and will make an impact and add tremendous value by being your authentic self, not questioning your seat at the table, and showing up prepared to lean in.”

Michelle L.
Senior Portfolio Manager in Vanguard’s Investment Management Group

When speaking about women in investment management, Michelle says, “It’s no secret that investment management has long been a male-dominated profession. The first bias we need to break is that women can have and build successful careers in the investment management industry. As a representative of WILS for Vanguard’s Investment Management Group, a strategic area we continue to focus on is our outreach to young women and girls on careers in investment management, as societal biases start very early. It’s empowering to help young women and girls see opportunity in investment management among their bright futures, particularly where bias or lack of role modeling may have chartered a different path for them.

Linda A.
Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and Corporate Accounting in Australia

For women looking to become stronger strategic thinkers, Linda encourages, “Be proactive. Understand the business strategy, understand the challenges faced by your leader, peers, and crew within the organization. Apply a risk culture mindset, collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to bring different perspectives and insights, and don’t be afraid to voice your ideas.”

Danielle

Michelle

Nitu

Ayana

Linda

More career blogs you may have missed

#LifeAtVanguard

A legacy of educators

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

Support group "breaks down the stigma"

Women’s History Month 2022

Vanguard’s innovative benefits support your well-being your way

Making technology accessible for all

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Living my passion in diversity recruiting

Our top careers blogs from 2021

Making the leap to a second career—again

Culture, In the community

Every ____ counts

Crew benefits, Culture

Gratitude for friends and colleagues

Culture, Diversity & inclusion, In the community

Vanguard wins award for pro bono work

De corazón a corazón, we are a family together

Crew benefits, Training & education

Celebrating our crew scholars

Making technology accessible for all

March 9, 2022/in Culture, Diversity & inclusion /by nitesh

Making technology accessible for all

As a developer, I find myself thinking about web sites and application design a lot. One aspect of development is accessibility, or making sure that all users have equal access to resources found on the web, and can accurately perceive, operate and understand all content. Accessibility is not as simple as testing with a screen reader and calling it a day, true web accessibility means ensuring that those with challenges to visual, hearing, motor, cognitive, and color perception abilities can use the applications successfully and with minimal frustration.

My exposure to accessibility technology started much earlier than most. My father’s cousin used a wheelchair for her adult life and had limited control from her neck down; she was able to move one finger. She was one of the most intelligent women I knew, a college professor with degrees in Criminal Science, and a fantastic taste in movies!

My father was her unofficial tech support, so I was always aware of how important her computer and other tools were for her to go about her daily life. I thought watching her speed through Dragon Naturally Speaking, a speech recognition software that allowed her to move her mouse around on the screen and interact with her computer via her voice, was so cool! In fact, I referenced that experience in my college application essays. So, from a time pre-dating my career, I have associated technology with helping to improve lives.

While in college, I was introduced to Vanguard through my College to Corporate summer internship. Even though my role through that program had nothing to do with software development (which I was majoring in) or accessibility, it was still a lot of fun! I learned so much about Vanguard’s corporate culture, including the firm’s client-first mentality, how caring colleagues are, how supportive managers are on finding balance between work and life, and encouragement to take advantage of Vanguard’s many amenities. I was amazed to learn that one of my coworkers had recruited her son to come work at the same company when adults I knew spent so much time complaining about work; the contrast was vast.

Given the welcoming culture I experienced, returning was a no brainer. When I eventually found my way to a developer role at Vanguard, I attended an internal course for one week that provided a broad overview of the many systems, tools and technologies, and programs that we need to be aware of. I spent a half day learning about what was a relatively new program at Vanguard, their Accessibility Office. I was fascinated by the idea. My manager at the time suggested that I reach out to them and become an ambassador.

Since that time, the Accessibility Office, and its ambassador (now champion) program, has continued to expand, and I have enjoyed being along for the ride. Along with trainings, I have also attended events for Global Accessibility Awareness Day and other accessibility related concepts. Just this year, I have signed up to become certified through International Association of Accessibility Professionals. For me, accessibility closely aligns to Vanguard’s mission – to take a stand for all investors (among other things). It’s important we make sure that all our tools are accessible to everyone.

In addition to my participation in the Accessibility Office, my role as an ambassador has offered me opportunities in my day-to-day job to introduce others on my team and beyond to accessibility concepts and help them integrate accessible implementations. We started small, with reviews of various applications, and the creation of prioritized backlogs to ensure that we could continuously improve our client experience. One occasion that stands out is when we adjusted the color contrast on pie charts on our pages. Upon implementation, one of my colleagues expressed gratitude for our work, as they personally are color blind. This was unexpected and truly demonstrates the positive impact we are having on the lives of others.

As I became more experienced with accessibility, I started to act as a subject matter expert for not just my team, but other teams in my product family and program as well. I am always happy to help when my fellow crew members reach out to me and ask for the best way to make an input, table, or chart more accessible, because I truly believe that every little bit helps! In the last few years, I have started giving overviews to my department about what accessibility is and how to implement it in their daily lives. I have received countless, positive feedback from participants, who were excited to jump in and start making their applications accessible to everyone.

The latest step in my accessibility journey took place in early January of this year when I accepted a role in the Accessibility Office. So, not only has accessibility shaped my childhood and early career, but it continues to shape the future of my work. Vanguard’s accessibility journey is far from finished, and I am looking forward to helping Vanguard continue to strive to give ALL investors the best chance for investment success.

-Noel K.

More career blogs you may have missed

#LifeAtVanguard

A legacy of educators

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

Women’s History Month 2022

Making technology accessible for all

Career opportunities, Day in the Life, Voyage to Vanguard Entry-level Phone Group

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Why we changed careers

Living my passion in diversity recruiting

How my interest in personal finance paved a path to my Vanguard career

From ballet to finance

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

March 2, 2022/in Culture, Diversity & inclusion /by nitesh

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Vanguard’s Total Rewards Package aims to provide a benefits program that supports all crew and focuses on life’s most important moments by providing the tools, resources, and programs they need in their life stage. Over the past year, with the introduction of some new benefits, including those focused on well-being, we’ve encouraged crew more than ever to choose the benefits that matter most to them now and in the future.

“Every crew member is in a different place when it comes to their needs, wants, and thoughts on how their employer should support them from a benefits perspective. To navigate these differences, we think through our crew members’ own journeys on an individual level to truly understand how they experience our benefits program, which helps us identify where we might – or might not – be meeting their needs today.” -Amy W., Benefits Manager

Benefits and Well-Being

Healthcare

A medical program that leads the market in both design and cost subsidy. Medical costs are subsidized significantly above competitive benchmark.
Long-term savings opportunities with access to a Health Savings Account (HSA), allowing crew to take advantage of tax efficiencies now and investment opportunities for the future. For those enrolled in an HSA-qualified medical plan, Vanguard provides a seed contribution as well as a 1.5x company match—both of which will benefit from compound growth over time.
Coverage and enhanced advocacy support for fertility services that supports all families (same-sex, opposite sex, transgender, and single-by-choice families), including crew wishing to delay pregnancy.
Enhanced coverage for transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, which aligns with the World Profession Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care in 2021.

Financial

Competitive pay that aligns with market practices, and rewards crew contributions through annual incentives that align client outcomes with crew and company performance.
Vanguard’s Retirement and Savings Plan (RSP) remains one of the premier defined contribution arrangements with a benchmark participation rate (97%), high average balance (3x national average) and diversified investment offerings. Our crew in the United States are immediately eligible to participate and Vanguard provides a generous match program to ensure our crew are retirement ready.
Tuition assistance for student loan repayment and an academic assistance program for crew fostering growth inside and outside the office.

Wellbeing/Lifestyle

FlexFund, a $1,500 taxable annual stipend that allows crew to choose the benefits that matter most to them. Crew can choose from several expense categories like physical and emotional well-being, family and pet services, lifestyle and conveniences, technology and mobility, and financial well-being.
Generous vacation and volunteer time off, with a flexible work week for many positions.
Parental benefits that include paid time for birth parents and non-birth parents, as well as financial support for adoption and surrogacy.
Wellness centers with on-site health clinics and fitness centers in our Malvern, Charlotte and Scottsdale locations. In response to COVID-19, these services have shifted to virtual platforms so crew can take advantage of them in our remote environment.
Digital platform and therapy solution to provide care for emotional and mental health—how, when, and where it’s needed, at no cost.
A program that offers personalized support to help caregivers tackle the often complex logistical and administrative tasks associated with caring for a loved one. A dependent care FSA and paid family care leave are also provided.

“Helping our diverse crew members thrive means that our benefits strategy needs to be an evolution to meet changing needs and preferences. The program is built on a strong foundation of core benefits like health care, time off and retirement, but also includes many other value-based benefits like education assistance, enhanced mental health support, and solutions to aid caregivers. Our intention is to ensure each program aligns to one of our guiding principles – whether it’s offering a specific digital tool to improve user experience, or simply because it’s the right thing to do for our crew. Crew feedback is an important part of this process as it helps us shape our benefits program, now and into the future.” -Amy W., Benefits Manager

More career blogs you may have missed

#LifeAtVanguard

A legacy of educators

How Vanguard has supported my career as a first‑time Mom

Women’s History Month 2022

Making technology accessible for all

Career opportunities, Day in the Life, Voyage to Vanguard Entry-level Phone Group

Vanguard’s enhanced Total Rewards package

Why we changed careers

Living my passion in diversity recruiting

How my interest in personal finance paved a path to my Vanguard career

From ballet to finance