financial advisor

administrative assistant

receptionist/administrative assistant

front desk receptionist

client specialist

First Command Financial Services

•	Vendor was brought on board for a very large platform implementation and there understanding of how to work in a lean/agile environment was minimal. The project wasn't scoped properly and as a result, the implementation was stressful for the teams. 
•	Because of this, leaders put a "command and control" mindset back in place and many people were attending 8am STATUS meetings DAILY to give updates. Many left the company after the implementation in January, 2021.
•	At first, I felt there was a tremendous amount of opportunity. During the hiring process they entertained putting me in more of a leadership role for the agile transformation but then settled on the initial role I applied for which was fine with me at the time. An opportunity came up a year later for me to be in a similar leadership role and I was told “I hadn’t proved myself yet” which was not only insulting but political as well. 
•	A leader was brought in to spearhead the agile transformation. I feel this person did all they could to make it happen, but, some leaders were not on board and were allowed to continue to their "command and control" antiquated 1995 management style. Particularly the person in charge of Information Security. This person wouldn't cooperate and when I called them out, I was threatened with HR by this individual. 
•	The person in Human Resources was great. They were empathetic and listened but I felt their hands were tied on many things. 
•	The last effort I worked on was another large platform implementation. The vendor chosen for this was not the right vendor and once again I was part of a problematic situation and a horrific "waterfall" project which incidentally was being ran not by a person with technical aptitude, but a CPA/Accountant in a leadership role who was excruciatingly difficult and WOULD NOT adhere to the lean/agile mindset and became a horrible force to deal with. 
•	Also, the person whom she worked for (C-Level Exec) allowed her to conduct herself in this manner. 
•	Workflows that this platform would support were not documented nor understood. Requirements kept changing daily because of the lack of understanding of the workflows and how the data needed to be used. 
•	The vendor leading this effort has several inexperienced people working for them and frankly, I don't even feel they had a grasp on "waterfall" project management either. 
•	When the CPA/Accountant stated she needed administrative people to help her with her "command and control" over this project, leaders provided her with contractors that were building her pretty boards, charts and graphs for her to understand where the project was. She refused to work with the agilists in the building and there were so many redundant meetings it got ridiculous. 
•	The teams that were working in a lean/agile manner were providing data for the new platform and they continuously were context switching in the middle of sprints because the requirements changed daily. She never came to Sprint Reviews to see what the team was working on nor did she attend System Demos where the teams providing the data were demonstrating their work. All she wanted was spoken/written status and she was allowed to conduct herself in this manner. 
•	One of the mistakes this company made, was trying to SCALE agility before they mastered the basics. The company preaches "servant leadership" and "psychological safety", but honestly, they are clueless to what that means.
•	They also keep hiring VP's and higher and continue to build out un-necessary leadership for an organization that is supposed to be transforming to a lean/agile mindset. C-Level positions were filled while I was there by leaders that have no concept of lean/agile as well. 
•	A paradigm that was beginning to emerge towards the end of my tenure there was to hire contractors when the going got rough. 
•	Personally, I feel this agile transformation will fail and the company will go back to the way it was. All in all, I do feel intentions were good when I first started, but because of the lack of support in the transformation, the culture has become toxic as well as extreme favoritism for some and no regard for others. It was definitely a learning experience on how NOT to do things. In actuality, I am grateful for that.


My viewpoint for this review was specifically in the Marketing/Client Experience department, though some of these same issues are themes that permeate throughout the company. While these are my experiences and thoughts, I shared this review with a handful of current and previous employees to ensure that all points in this review are accurate and reflect the experiences of others in the company.   

In my 15+ year career, never have I worked for a company whose departmental leadership was as out of touch and thankless as what I experienced at First Command. Constantly changing priorities that are not tied to an overarching strategy, creating an environment where everyone is working harder, not smarter. A recent shift to using Agile to align the company’s strategic priorities is one example – a portion of the company uses the Agile framework and the rest of the company doesn’t. There are many blurred lines connecting these two groups. 

To add to that confusion, there is a lack of communication and visibility at the department and team level, in addition to an ever-growing and changing workload that will destroy any hopes for a work/life balance. Promotions are used as incentives to get you to add more work to your plate, but they are often dangled carrots that are moved out further and just out of reach. Some people do grab that carrot, but it is rarely a meritocratic process. 

There is also a frequent rotation of managers and responsibilities with no direct change in compensation or station within the department. I worked at FC for more than six years and had more managers than the years I worked there. On top of that, these frequent departmental changes are rarely formally communicated, so it’s hard to know who is in charge of what.

I was fortunate enough to have met some amazing people in the company. People who I consider true friends and hope to work with again down the road. Most of these people are “workers” or non-management. They work hard, they help others, and they are the foundation of the positive culture that the company had so many years ago. 

Sadly, the level of toxicity that seeps out from the management level was bad enough that I left the company, along with others who have left for the same reason.
 
Similar to transitioning part of the company to the Agile framework so that they can say the company is “agile,” the company puts a focus on appearing to be a great place to work more than actually becoming a great place to work. It’s all about promoting the “great places to work” awards and soliciting new employees to leave company reviews; it’s not about becoming a great place to work and letting the accolades come naturally. Just look at the reviews on this site – especially some of the recent entries. Look at the details, or lack thereof, in the reviews, the star levels, and the length of time the employees have worked at the company. 

A 5-star company is excellent across the board – culture, compensation, benefits, leadership development, and so on. Obtaining a 5-star rating should be an aspiration to most companies. Even if achieved, it has to be maintained. First Command is not a 5-star company, but it’s not a 1-star company, either. A 2-star rating seems fair given my experience. Though I enjoyed some aspects during my time with the company, I would not recommend working at First Command if a family member or friend asked my opinion.

First Command focuses on helping military members succeed financially. The focus is mostly on young lieutenants in all services. A client receives a complete financial plan, which includes recommendations for life insurance, savings, and investments. They push Whole Life products and pay the advisors more and provide more kudos to the advisors for selling it as compared to other insurance products. Whether or not it is the best product for the client is a matter of opinion. Just like anything else that is sold for commission, Whole Life is justified through meticulous note-taking explaining why it is the most appropriate product for the client. Other products are offered and sold to the clients, as well. The managed money platform, "AMS", is decently priced for the service provided. Competing firms can charge less, but I have found that it is fair with the way the team at the home office manages it. The Chief Investment Officer is very intelligent. Most of the higher-tier leadership are great people. Each office, however, is only as good as the Advisors' merit and the District Advisor who manages them. Some offices are amazing places to work, while others are just not. This is relative to leadership skills and experience in the office. Offices require advisors to pay fairly large office bills (relative to the area). This happens based on how the company structured its field offices. It isn't malicious.

I have been putting this off for a while because I didn't want to think about the experience I had with First Command but I feel like not telling my story would be a disservice to everyone else. I started at First Command as an unpaid intern during my time in the Army. During this time I was still getting paid by the army but I would show up at First Command in a suit and study for my securities exams. I passed all the necessary exams in the three months I was there before I officially left the army. Once I was fully separated from the army I started First Command's Fast Start  Program. To be honest, for me, it was worse than anything I had experienced while in the Army but if you enjoy memorizing long speeches word for word you would love it. At the time I felt like as long as I just did what I was told everything would turn out to be fine, kind of like hazing. After all that, I got to the "Final Exam" of the Fast Start training. I was told that this exam was "un-failable" and that you get a second chance to take it but "no one fails the second time" and my boss told me he would "fight for me" if anything happened. Well, I did not pass the first time and the second time I did much better but I still failed. The reason I failed was mostly because I was told I was going to be graded one way but instead, I was graded another. Overall, from my experience at First Command almost everyone above the financial advisor level only cares about themselves but the financial advisors themselves, at least some of them, really do want to help their clients.

Overall the company means well. The main mission is to support service members in their pursuit of financial security. Local offices mostly follow through this and the majority of the advisors I've met genuinely care about their clients. In recent years there has been a noticeable change towards a more sales oriented environment that has come from the top down. You basically mean nothing to the company if you are not a high level producer. The company maintains an "At Will Contract" with its advisors and has the right to terminate them with no reason and with no notice. This makes it very difficult to grow a business.

I won't say they discourage servicing clients, but any type of servicing that clients require is not recognized or rewarded. Only sales count. 

Making money is also difficult. It is commission only and between marketing, office bills, and staff I had a monthly cost of roughly $3500. I had to clear over 5k in income each month before I could pay myself. Insurance was the best way to do this but it does force you to push insurance more than you want to. I often felt more of an insurance salesman then anything. Not because I wanted to but because I had to. You are highly scrutinized if you don't sell enough insurance. Insensitives are all tied to it. 

Again, the company means well but they need to focus more on the investment side of things. They also need to support advisors more. Right now it seems as though they do not care for their advisors or clients based off of recent actions. 

Client means different things to different jobs. My client would be the Advisors, who service our First Command clients. A typical work week involves at least one meeting with my direct manager.

The workplace culture isn't about everyone getting along 100% of the time, but recognizing our individuality and creating teams from that. Maybe I don't understand the legal component well, there is a SME for that. Maybe you don't understand the technical tools of your job, there is ample training and SMEs for that as well.

There are days I can see my job as not having changed since day one, and other days my mind is blown at how much I've learned about the industry, my job and the regulations that go into protecting our clients and our company. 

The hardest part of the job can be when an exciting project ends, or when it never goes beyond the Pinocchio phase. However, the company has ramped up efforts to streamline projects, mitigating wasteful project tasks.

The most enjoyable part of the day is the flexibility and trust my employer offers me. I can be an employee and parent and not feel like the two or opposed to each other. We have family events, community outreach and Bring your Child to work days.

My job consist of maintaining one or more Advisor's client database, and can include anywhere from 400 or more clients. Time management and the ability to multi-task are extremely important.  Time is of the essence when a client comes in to open a new Investment account or start a new Life Insurance policy.  Clients want to make sure that they are taking full advantage the current stock market values, therefore, once the application is completed it is sent to the Investment company for processing and for the contributions to investment to start.  Insurance is handle the same way because one the application is signed the client will be covered by temporary cover until issued. All clients accounts have to be handle as according to compliance and the SEC. 
Not only am I responsible for making sure that accounts are open and insurance policies are issued, I will also do all of the follow up calls to make sure that everything was received by the companies.  I make sure that I maintain contact with the clients so that I can answer any questions that they may have or assistance.   I maintain my email/calendar along with the Advisor's, and take all calls in his/her absence.

Title says it all. First Command pretends to be looking out for military families but in reality it uses veterans to gain the trust of military member and their families, then uses high pressure sales tactics to sell them unsuitable investments and unneeded insurance. 

The "training" consists of memorizing various sales scripts, mostly relating to whole life insurance as it is what pays the most to the company. After memorizing the scripts, advisors are flown to Ft. Worth for a week of hands-on training in high-pressure sales tactics and misrepresenting mutual funds (they ONLY trade mutual funds, typically with high fees. No stocks or derivatives). This concludes the training. Notably absent is any training in making appropriate recommendations or understanding how financial instruments work.

Advisors are pressured, and in some cases directly instructed, to recommend products that generate the most revenue for the firm without regard to what is appropriate for the client.

-Usually they want an E-5 or above or military spouse.
-They sell you the job and you get to train the military. 
-Get licenses and do their training.
-Every advisor does things differently. 
-Training was not adequate for someone new to sales nor for running your own business.
-Wasn't told about how commissions worked or other items as an independent contractor until became an IC.
-Not the best support because every advisor is trying to run their own business and are busy. Some advisors are pushy toward their clients, especially with life insurance.
-Weekly training was only 5-10 minutes.
-Then we a new person starts, you are forgotten about.

Recommendations:
-Should be assigned an advisor and/or mentor (guiding them every step of the way for all processes).
-Dedicate a trainer to focus on the new personnel when the other advisors are busy.
-Teach how to run a business and rules for doing so.
-Be honest and forthcoming. Tell them everything up front and not later.

It's like learning to walk. First you roll, then scoot, then stand, then walk and run and we all need guidance along the way.

A typical day at First Command Financial Planning consisted of proposing and developing financial portfolios including investment strategies, securities, insurance, pension plans, real estate and taxes to assist financial planners proposing money management strategies for individuals and businesses. 

I learned how to gather client information regarding assets, liabilities, cash flow, insurance coverage, tax status and financial objectives and assisted financial planners in analyzing and developing a financial plan tailored to client's needs. 

My co-workers were encouraging and knowledgeable.

The hardest part of working at First Command Financial Planning was not being able to help a handful of clients make their dreams a reality.

The part that I enjoyed most about this job was being able to assist clients in visualizing their potential in reference to what they can achieve overtime and int he future.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Financial advisor 84 salaries reported	$104,173 per year
Administrative assistant 16 salaries reported	$19.01 per hour
Receptionist/administrative assistant 4 salaries reported	$18.38 per hour
Front desk receptionist 1 salary reported	$19.00 per hour
Client specialist 3 salaries reported	$41,350 per year

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