software engineer

senior software engineer

software engineer intern

specialist

intern

Principal Financial Group

My biggest disappointment is being drawn in by Principal's generous benefit package and promises of advancement..  You're not actually allowed to use your PTO when you need it for sickness, doctor's appointments, sick kids, etc without getting an occurrence.  PTO is rarely approved and forget about using VTO.  There is no work life balance and you're expected to work when sick especially during overtime.  Highly insensitive during the pandemic.  Apparently, that is only the case for this position because other employees in the same department in different positions brag about how generous and flexible their jobs have been. This job also picks at your self esteem and points out your flaws.  Your quality results are put on display for the whole team to see which is way different than previous job.  If you're not doing well, it's a way to shame you in front of others.  I've seen people cry because of the pressure.  The requirements seem a bit outdated and rigid.  The expectations and number of applications required to do this entry level job are unreal.  My last similar position at a different company paid less with less benefits but at least you could use your PTO, take care of yourself, family and have a life without fear of losing your job.  And the job was much easier and less stressful.  You're just a number on the page here and treated as insignificant because of your role.  The department only cares about numbers and speed and doesn't see you as a person. Even if your quality and adherence is great if you're a minute too slow it is unacceptable and threatened with termination.  They seem to thrive on constantly creating new rules to make the job more difficult then don't give you much time to learn it. It's supposed to be immediately absorbed within seconds of reading it or the threat of discipline.  Read time has to be scheduled and you're limited to 15 minutes to read everything that may have been missed including new processes.  They work you like a machine.  The CBT's intended to get employees to think and use ethical treatment are useless as some leaders are allowed to treat others however they want.  Company seems to enable bad leadership.  It's not easy posting out of this position within the company.  After building up PTO you're not allowed to use then you lose it if you quit.  No cash out so the benefit is valueless.  These are just a few reasons why there is constant turnover in this area.  Constant turnover means those who stay can't have their own life and use benefits as other employees can.  Lots of favoritism. This position defines micro management to a degree I've never experienced before. I regret leaving my previous employment thinking this was better.  

The reason I went to Principal was because the benefits were great and the compensation was decent. In my interview, I specifically asked if this position was solely a customer call center position and they told me no that I would rotate between calls and emails, which after training, that was not the case at all. I NEVER was on a rotation and was strictly taking phone calls while also being told I need to pull a certain amount of emails a day in between my calls (which you never had time because phones constantly rang). Not only did I have to take calls all day and was expected to be on the phones 90% of my time, I had other cases (new and existing), work orders, pull emails from our team queue AND my outlook email that I had to respond too within 24hrs.  

The training was no help what so ever. It didn’t prepare us at all for the phone calls we would be taking or how to do our day to day work load. We were expected to do conference calls on very complex items which whenever you reach out for help, nobody knew how to handle it (even people who had been there 3+ years). They say it takes at least a year to get comfortable with the position, yet they had no problem throwing the newbies on the phones just to get bodies on the phones even despite not having the knowledge to help the customers. It made me feel intimated and like I was just another body they didn’t care how stupid I looked on the phone. I even went to management about the training and how uncomfortable it was and how our training group needs more training before doing certain tasks and I was shut down and was given a fluff answer - no help at all. 

The whole time I was there, there wasn’t one week that we didn’t have MANDATORY overtime, which no one mentioned at all in the interview that ot would be required. Each week I was doing 10+ hours of OT just to get caught up on my work and the required OT.

This position has an EXTREMELY high turn over rate. Also, if you plan to leave after working here, take note that they will NOT pay out your PTO that you have ACCRUED each month. Which is extremely upsetting because not only do you accrue it but also this department RESTRICTS people from using their PTO because of high call volume so you are extremely limited to have more than two days off in a row.

Very disappointed in Prinicpal and this specific department. I heard nothing but good things about this company and they did have amazing benefits but not worth it at all for what you go through and they don’t seem to be changing it anytime soon, despite how many people they have lost. 

Talking to your co-workers about retirement, the upcoming cubs game, or the principal classic.  If you are management or are one of their special people. Come in at 9 sit down for 15 go have coffee, scurry off to nonsense meeting. Sit and fumble with your new IWatch that you are unable to figure out. Go have a two hour lunch. Come back and belittle your staff for their inability to decipher what is really desired about your inability to make any decision. Go get more coffee, laugh about the evening plans.  Cut out around 3:30 because hey you sent two emails and did about 15 minutes worth of work.


In IT your co-workers are generally pretty decent.  However if you are to survive do not offer your opinions, ideas, or strategies.  If you have passion for your career, check it at the door.  Career advancement forget about it unless you are a Des Moines forty under forty. Are you a forward thinker? This is completely unnecessary Principal wants to outsource everything. "Knowledge Worker" is the buzz word of the day sorry but willingness knowledge and know how have no place at the Principal. Are you capable of leading change teaching your colleagues lay down a logical strategy for the path forward you will only spin your wheels here.  In the rest of the world, Principals IT management, would be unable to secure a job as an elevator operator.  Though the management team loves to talk in analogy's and made up acronyms. So here is the deal if you are at all decent in your career field accept the fact that you will be completely micro-managed.

Pro's
They will pay you. but if you are lucky the raises are a meager 2%.
401K match is talked up as a 6% match on 8% contribution what they don't tell you is that there are loopholes on the match and much of your retirement savings will be eaten up by plan fee's. Review Principal's recent litigation history.
Health Insurance is OK but nothing special.
The Health Insurance will cover your out of work alternative lifestyle partner. Principal will not however cover your working spouse if they have a lousy insurance plan.
The sales piranha's will readily come a knocking to sell their insurance and fee based investment products. I swallowed it hook line and sinker.  The truth is like everything shop around talk to multiple folks find something that truly suits your needs.  In <99% of the time you will be able to find a more suitable product for less money.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Some departments are excellent and provide many opportunities and room for growth 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
HR does not support its employees. They would rather have you work things out with your leader and not be involved even if the leader is the problem you are trying to avoid. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The environment is hybrid / remote however some departments are trying to be more office inclusive. Principal used to be all about “one Principal” however now they seem to be more focused with advancement for executives and VPs at the top with little to no advancement for people near the bottom. I remember people saying that everyone knows someone that has been with Principal forever however I feel like now that is only if you’re in a senior management or corporate leadership position. There are very few opportunities for the average person to achieve this. The culture is not what it was pre-covid and I personally believe that a change was made somewhere between then and now. Having put in 3 years with the company, I would not recommend it as a good place to work. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
This answer depends greatly by the department you work with and your leader and your team. My team was 10 or fewer people with only 3 or 4 of us coming to work every day. There was no shortage of calls coming in and we were punished for not getting things done when there seemed to be no ill effects for people who didn’t want to come to work. Management likes to stack penalties together even if they were addressed in the past as “ongoing behavior issues” and use them against you down the road. Again with HR not wanting to be involved you will feel like you have nowhere to turn to with your issues and no one is willing to help you. You are on your own.

Principal is a great company to work for offering many perks. In some departments you'll be offered the opportunity to work from home on occasion, they have great health insurance, an on-site pharmacy, free parking ramp parking, and cafeteria's (including Starbucks) in multiple buildings. When it comes to culture, I can't help but notice an overwhelmingly amount of white people. There are tiny groups of Asian people, Indian people, hardly any black people and a gigantic sea of white people. (This is coming from a white person, btw). The claims department is the most miserable department I have ever worked in. The job itself isn't bad, it's the management and ridiculous expectations to know everything all at once. They reassure you that they're understandable people and will help you after training but fall flat on that promise then load you up with claim after claim. You can ask questions but you'll be given a hurried answer since everyone is too busy to stop and help. I have never met a group of workers more stressed out and irritable than this group. The turnover rate is extremely high for a reason. They have 3-4 training groups per year to replenish the people constantly leaving like clockwork. It's sad because Principal as a company is absolutely great! The perks are hard to beat but this particular department is just sad all around. I left them last year and don't recommend anyone work there unless you're young, fresh out of college, no kids, and no life that can handle all of the stress.

A typical day included myself on the phones doing inbound call work to reset passwords for principal.com and various wellness portals, setting usernames or sending "set-up links" so that customers could do so on their own for principal.com or wellness portals, verifying checks, and directing calls to the business unit that could best assist the customers needs. I learned how to handle customers with the correct phone etiquette and how to use Avaya-onex to answer and direct phone calls to the correct Business Units. Management for Principal was very nice and was good about answering questions when you needed it, but they were sometimes very hard to find. If someone had a question on the call and no managers were around to answer, we either had to have the customer hold until someone could answer our question, which could be anywhere from 5-15 minutes or connect them to their business unit for another representative to find their manager. There wasn't much time to get to know other co-workers as we all worked very independently, but it was a friendly atmosphere when we did communicate with each other. The hardest part of the job would be when you're unsure of what to do and you can't find management to assist or receiving a call from an angry customer. The most enjoyable part of the job for me was verifying checks and also assisting cheerful customers in getting logged in.

Overall, Principal is a very a good company to work for.  Excellent benefits and work life balance.  Advancement opportunities are few and far in between unless you work in the home office in Des Moines, IA, or are willing to move.
My current position as Benefit and planning counselor involves spending each day at a different location meeting 1:1 with the employees of Principal's retirement plan clients who participate, or want to participate in their employers retirement plan (401k, 403b etc..).  Each meeting involves a financial needs analysis that is comprehensive, but focused mostly on retirement planning.  It is an incredibly valuable service and the people I meet with greatly appreciate the help.  I also do standard group educational seminars, but the 1:1 meetings are the primary focus.
The most difficult part of the job is that you have to be a "jack of all trades".  You are mostly a financial advisor and an educator, but parts of your job include aspects of wholesaling, and relationship management.  In order to accomplish anything, or move forward with a plan to generate more opportunities, you have to get the go ahead from 3 or 4 different people, sometimes more.  The challege is good because you expand your skillset, but it's also frustrating because the multiple responsibilities, and multiple gatekeepers take you away from the job duties that have the greatest impact on hitting your goals.

I stuck it out for the pay and that I could work from home before it was a popular thing.  However, when I needed to move because my husband's job was transferred, my "manager" found a reason to not let me WFH in another location.  The micromanagement at PFG is out of control.  They set unrealistic expectations for "goals" and would constantly hammer on people about their productivity....always trying to eek out a bit more from you.  I LOVED the people I worked with...they and my customers made my day worthwhile.  I'm still friends with many of them.  What did I learn from PFG?  I learned that I hate the big corporate atmosphere that tries to parade itself around as a local family-oriented business....because they certainly aren't.  Some of the departments DO have great managers who lead their teams with enthusiasm, fairness, and thoughtfulness.....my department wasn't one of them, and I know mine wasn't the lone department with that problem.  Maybe the big hats at corporate need to start PAYING ATTENTION to those "anonymous" surveys they have the employees fill out every year and DO SOMETHING about it!!

While with the Principal I learned so many skills. I type very fast with few errors and 10 key. My typical day in the short term disability dept would be bring up my claims in my computer and start working them. We each would receive anywhere from 10 to 20 claims per day. we were on a time line to get the claims researched and paid. Typically we were allowed 3 days to get our claims out the door. I would make outgoing phone calls to physicians, hospitals, and the clients for interview's. It was my job to determine if the person was truly disabled and that he/she could not perform the substantial and material duties of his or her job. This job demanded organization skills and world class customer service skills. I also took incoming calls from clients, physicians and hospitals regarding claims. I learned empathy with my clients as well as to be tough as well. I worked well by myself and also in a team. I went up and beyond the call of duty if somebody needed help with their claims as we were a team also. I learned about state laws as well. The hardest part of this job was telling a client that I had to deny their claim for disability benefits. Other then that I totally enjoyed the job. I left only because I chose to leave and move on to more challenges and openings for my career.  

Training for sure could have been longer & wish we would have had more time for practice calls . 
Once you get thrown on the phones you can call helpline for “help” but half of the helpline literally answers with a sigh and trys to rush you off the phone soon as possible when I’m the type of person who wants to be shown where you got that answer . Or when I reach out to a manager about something with in the company they will just send you a pdf file to read which is great but we are brand new so some of it does not make sense (I wish they would reach out to over phone & explain it) I feel like the metrics are unrealistic/ QA is mainly viewed by AI and I’m not a fan of that VERY nip picky of what to say and what not to say on the phones one little wrong answer can lead the phone call to a unsatisfactory……they expect you to know EVERYTHING within a month or 2 & you have to keep track of your own time card not a fan either so if your phone call runs over on your lunch you have to remember to fix that and write that down …. I’m still not sure if the job is for me I have been applying at other jobs . & the cherry on top is the pay is good compared to most companies however you don’t realize just how complex this job until you are on the phones the pay should atleast start out at 26/27 an hour (Iowa)

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 5 salaries reported	$93,800 per year
Senior software engineer 13 salaries reported	$106,231 per year
Software engineer intern 10 salaries reported	$28.20 per hour
Specialist 3 salaries reported	$21.16 per hour
Intern 10 salaries reported	$21.00 per hour

Working at Principal Financial Group: Company Overview and Reviews

Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group Ratings

Popular jobs at Principal Financial Group

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected