Vanguard

College to Corporate Business Intern

June - August 2021 • Scottsdale, AZ

What I liked

I loved the structure of this internship - with over 100 interns across the country coming into their internship program each summer, Vanguard has made a very organized and meaningful program. I also like that I was placed in a department closer to the start date once they had the chance to get to know me, my interests, and my skills.

What I wish was different

Advice

Be open to opportunities - I didn't expect the skills I gained and projects I worked on, but by staying open and curious to learning anything and everything, I feel like I grew so much through this experience.

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Operational Risk intern

May - August 2019 • Malvern, PA

What I liked

My manager was hands on and we would have weekly check-ins. I also got exposure to upper management. Everyone was very kind.

What I wish was different

Advice

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Intern

May - August 2019 • Malvern, PA

What I liked

Great culture and hands on experience in computer science.

What I wish was different

Nothing!

Advice

Make sure to cultivate personal connections with other workers. Everyone is so willing to help and Vanguard is such a large company that there are tons of opportunities to learn about potential career paths through networking.

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Internal Auditor

April - September 2019 • Malvern, PA

What I liked

The company culture/team and leadership dynamics, variety of work, independence/freedom of thought, and leadership opportunities.

What I wish was different

Cylical nature of work - very busy/slow at times

Advice

Take advantage of all the resources the company has and network with as many people as possible.

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Quantitative Finance Intern

May - August 2019 • Scottsdale, AZ

What I liked

The culture of the company was refreshing. Everyone was extremely helpful and supportive

What I wish was different

I wish I would’ve had a more clear idea of what the end goal of my project was from my supervisor

Advice

Relationship management is vital. They know you are smart and are qualified, your project is important, but show them interpersonal skills as well.

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College to Corporate intern

May - August 2019 • Malvern, PA

What I liked

I like that Vanguard provided housing. Vanguard also has a culture of encouragement and networking within the company.

What I wish was different

Advice

It is important to network with people who have been in the internship program to know what it expected from you.

1 One person found this helpful

Business Intern

May - August 2018 • Scottsdale, AZ

What I liked

Everyone at the company was incredibly helpful and friendly, and there were many resources available. I was able to view a large amount of different departments and work to broaden my experience. The work was enjoyable and very self-directed, so I was able to expand my project work to what I enjoyed and found could help the company.

What I wish was different

The corporate culture was very off-putting and difficult to navigate as a young person coming from a very liberal, open university. The technology at the company was very old and provided tremendous difficulty in completing the work to its utmost potential. The corporate structure also made for a difficult time in gathering information and providing work that could be best understood and utilized, especially if the data suggested opportunity areas that were not recieved well.

Advice

Stay open minded about all divisions, people, and the corporate structure when entering this internship. There is a lot to learn from many incredible people, and the business offers many different paths. However, this is definitely a more formal, professional environment, different from the "start-up" culture that many milennials have started to experience.

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Brokerage Clerk

July 2018 • Scottsdale, AZ

What I liked

Non sales based financial position. Empowered to do right by client. Helping people manage their money and invest responsibly and appropriately.

What I wish was different

No complaints

Advice

Go to every career fair. Even before you are really ready (sophomore year) you learn how they work and can practice your elevator pitch and learn what questions you should be asking.

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Client Services specialist

February 2018 • Scottsdale, AZ

What I liked

Great upward mobility and career flexibility; virtually no one keeps their starting role linger than a year, unless they choose to. Funding for graduate degrees and advanced certifications is easily accessible

What I wish was different

Very limited in being able to able knowledge gained in coursework. Employees are not allowed to give advice based on own opinions or discretion, due to liability involved.

Advice

You don’t come into Vanguard out of college to be in this role forever. It’s monotonous and limiting. However, it will set you on a path to achieve anything you set your sights on within the industry. Vanguard is a very well renowned company growing at an extremely rapid pace. This is a great place to get your footing and get your licenses paid for, with easy access to leadership and advising positions.

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College to Corporate Intern

May - August 2018 • Malvern, PA

What I liked

Vanguard made an effort to give interns lots of opportunities to learn about the company.

What I wish was different

As a programmer, a lot of the program was administrated by Human Resources that didn't have a really full understanding of the needs of tech workers. A lot of what I learned was about branding myself inside a corporate environment, not valuable technical skills.

Advice

Vanguard is a good starting point if you might want corporate experience or general experience with real programming work, but if you value hard skills, this may not be a good place to intern.

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Developer Intern

June - August 2017 • Charlotte, NC

What I liked

Great hands on experience

What I wish was different

N/a

Advice

Be sure to network and meet new people

1 One person found this helpful

Developer Intern

June - August 2017 • Charlotte, NC

What I liked

Great hands on experience

What I wish was different

N/A

Advice

Network and meet new people

1 One person found this helpful

App Development Intern

June - August 2017 • Malvern, PA

What I liked

Great professional development, technical development, full-time pipeline

What I wish was different

Advice

Apply Early

1 One person found this helpful

SURP fellow

May - July 2018 • Costa Mesa, CA

What I liked

Flexible Schedule

What I wish was different

Nothing

Advice

Definitely would do it again

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Information Technology Intern - Application Development

June - August 2017 • Malvern, PA

What I liked

Vanguard essentially is a non-profit investing company. The philosophy is that if you invest the clients money then they should have the greatest returns and keep costs down for them. Vanguard has an incredible company culture where the people are friendly and care about each other. I enjoyed every moment around the campus because I was able to keep friendly conversation with my coworkers and fellow interns. The work I did was challenging and provided me with a great opportunity to show some of my skills and improve upon what I already knew going into the experience. Probably my favorite part of the experience was how Vanguard organized all 100 of us interns for lots of events throughout the summer and I was able to socialize with peers like me and have a lot of fun.

What I wish was different

The biggest obstacle for me was getting my workstation set up with all of the right software and technology tools I needed to be effective. I had about two weeks go by until I was finally able to start contributing anything of value to my team. In addition, Vanguard has very tight security so I learned to become and expert on filing requests for permission for access to technology or infrastructure when it came to switching gears and taking on new work.

Advice

One piece of advice is to focus on building relationships. Networking allows you to become a memorable intern and give Vanguard a chance to see why you fit so well into the company. The more friendly and genuine you are the more successful you are going to feel when you can build that group for yourself.

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Client Offer & Business Solutions Intern

May - August 2018 • Malvern, PA

What I liked

I was able to gain hands-on experience as a member of a team in the Institutional Investor Group at Vanguard. It taught me a lot about not only marketing, which is my major but also about finance and data analysis. These were skills that are outside of my comfort zone, and the program allowed me to explore it without seeing me only for my marketing major. I was able to meet with leaders in different areas of business about 2-3 times a week. Additionally, the internship immerses you in the corporate culture so that you can truly see if Vanguard is a good fit for you after graduation. The other interns were also very supportive and from a diverse selection of schools, majors and interests. This expanded my network even further.

What I wish was different

At times, I wished that there were more intern events, however looking back at it, the one event per week was a great way to learn something new and catch up with interns to see what they were working on. It also allowed the majority of your week to be dedicated to whatever project(s) you were assigned.

Advice

I would give any student the advice to be confident in yourself and take some risks in whatever experience you are pursuing. If you are confident, more of your personality will show and you will be happier and more successful in whatever you are doing. Additionally, learn to be flexible and adaptable if you are planning to enter the corporate world. No experience will be perfect, but that is the real world.

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