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Guide to Working at Prudential

Working at Prudential

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Prudential Financial is a financial solutions company that offers a range of products and services, including investment management, annuities, life insurance, mutual funds, and retirement-related services.

If you’re interested in a financial services career and think working at Prudential could be a good fit, learn about typical positions and salaries, benefits, company culture, and how the interview process works.

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What Is Prudential?

Founded in 1875 by John Fairfield Dryden as the first company in the U.S. to sell affordable life insurance to working-class people, Prudential Financial now has 50 million customers in more than 40 countries, $70.93 billion in revenue in 2021, and $1.6 trillion in assets as of March 2022.

With over 40,000 employees and sales associates globally, Prudential operates in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America under three business portfolios: U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management, U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance, and International Insurance.

Prudential is the second-largest life insurer in the U.S. and the ninth-largest institutional asset manager in the world. The company’s vision is to be a worldwide leader in expanding access to insurance, investing, and retirement security.

Prudential Careers and Salaries

Prudential’s talent philosophy is about collaboration, diversity, and creating a welcoming environment where all employees feel empowered to reach their full potential. Careers at Prudential fall under 11 general job categories:

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Finance and Accounting Jobs

Employees in finance and accounting at Prudential manage the economic fundamentals of the business by clarifying and aligning business fundamentals with report results. Supporting growth strategies, evaluating risk, performing price evaluations, and increasing speed to market are some key tasks for employees on these teams.

According to Glassdoor, these are some of the job titles and average annual salaries for finance professionals at Prudential:

  • Financial analyst: $90,800
  • Associate actuary: $121,900
  • Financial advisor: $127,400
  • Investment analyst: $131,800
  • Underwriter: $92,600

On Comparably, accounting positions have the following annual salaries:

  • Accountant: $69,400
  • Senior accountant: $89,800
  • Accounting manager: $105,000

It’s worth noting that Prudential’s job listings do include wide pay ranges — such as $111,400 to $165,800 for a financial reporting manager. This range can be helpful for job applicants as a starting point when it’s time to negotiate salary.

Technology Jobs

The 7,400-person tech team at Prudential works to provide a smart and agile ecosystem that helps ensure the company can deliver the best possible user experience. Prudential invests $1.8 billion every year in technology and hires employees in several sub-categories:

  • Admin and support
  • Agile, delivery, and product
  • Architecture
  • Data analytics and management
  • Engineering and cloud
  • Information security
  • Risk and governance

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While job postings for the technology team do include potential pay ranges, below are average annual wages on Glassdoor and Comparably for specific tech jobs at Prudential:

  • Systems analyst: $123,100
  • IT director: $229,200
  • Software engineer: $147,600
  • Software developer: $129,600
  • Front end developer: $113,500
  • Database administrator: $126,400
  • IT support engineer: $84,700
  • QA manager: $127,200

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Student and Entry-Level Opportunities at Prudential

Prudential offers immersive summer internships for undergraduate and graduate students in eight job categories. The 10-week experiences begin in early June and end in August and enable interns to do hands-on work on meaningful projects. 

Applications for undergraduate internships open in July and are due in late October for consideration for the following summer. Prudential reviews applications for some graduate internships on a rolling basis.

Recent and soon-to-be graduates can also apply to any of Prudential’s full-time early career opportunities.

Prudential Benefits and Perks

Comprehensive benefits at Prudential include medical, dental, and vision coverage, in addition to other insurance and retirement plan offerings. Other unique benefits and perks include:

  • Employee savings plans
  • Legal advice programs
  • Tuition assistance
  • Professional development
  • Gym memberships
  • Life and health coaches
  • Well-being programs
  • Behavioral health services
  • Alternative work arrangements
  • Family services (including backup childcare, adult care support, tutoring, and college admissions support)
  • 10-week fully paid parental leave

Current and former employees on Glassdoor rate Prudential’s benefits 4.2 out of 5 stars, with 5-star ratings for mental health care, stock options, flexible hours, family medical leave, paid holidays, professional development, and more.

On Comparably, Prudential’s benefits get a 76 out of 100 rating (a B+), with 74% of employees saying they are satisfied with their benefits and 80% rating their office perks as “good.”

Prudential Culture

Prudential’s four core values dictate how it does business with customers and how employees interact with each other.

  • Customer-focused
  • Respect for each other
  • Winning with integrity
  • Worthy of trust

As an employer, Prudential is committed to encouraging and supporting employees and helping them develop professional and leadership skills. It embraces an inclusive and collaborative culture and looks for employees with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

That said, what do employees think of Prudential’s culture? According to MIT’s Culture 500, employees list the most discussed cultural value as agility, but it’s often discussed negatively — meaning employees may not be able to respond quickly and effectively to marketplace changes. On the other hand, they positively discuss collaboration, which is the ability to work well within teams and the organization.

Overall, employees on Comparably rate the culture at Prudential as 77 out of 100, which is an “A” score. Eighty-six percent of employees look forward to interacting with their teams every day, 67% are happy with their work-life balance, and 84% report a positive work environment.

Prudential has received several awards for its culture and as an employer, including being named one of America’s Best Employers for New Grads (Forbes). Other accolades include:

  • Top Employers and Top LGBT-Friendly Companies (HISPANIC Network Magazine)
  • Top Companies for Executive Women (National Association for Female Executives)
  • Best for Vets Employer (Military Times)
  • Military Spouse Friendly Employer (VIQTORY)
  • Best Place to Work for People with Disabilities (Disability:IN)
  • 100 Best Companies (Working Mother)

Values and Initiatives

Prudential commits to various initiatives and projects that help contribute to and define the overall company culture.

  • Diversity and inclusion: Since its beginnings, Prudential has operated with the belief that “financial security should be in reach of everyone.” To that end, the company invests significant funds in initiatives that support inclusion, diversity, and racial equality — including $920 million given to over 450 organizations that work to eliminate barriers to social and financial mobility for underrepresented populations.
  • Sustainability: The company has addressed climate change by setting a goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and becoming carbon neutral by 2040. Prudential also restricts investments in companies that derive revenues from thermal coal.
  • Corporate social responsibility: Prudential aims to drive social progress and close the economic divide through The Prudential Foundation, which has surpassed $1 billion in donations since 1978. In addition, in 2021, U.S. employees volunteered 26,772 hours to benefit local communities, and the company gave more than $66 million in grants and contributions to nonprofit organizations.

Prudential vs. AIG

One of Prudential’s main competitors in the insurance market is AIG, a global insurance corporation. So how does working at AIG compare to working at Prudential? Here’s how the companies stack up in several categories, according to Glassdoor:

OverallCulture & ValuesWork-Life BalanceSalary & BenefitsRecommend to FriendPositive Business Outlook
Prudential3.9 / 53.8 / 53.8 / 53.8 / 572%61%
AIG3.6 / 53.6 / 53.8 / 53.5 / 566%54%

On Comparably, Prudential has higher ratings for overall culture, team culture, gender score, diversity score, and professional development. AIG comes out ahead for perks and benefits.

How Does the Prudential Application Process Work?

The application process at Prudential is relatively straightforward but slightly different for interns and new graduates than for experienced professionals.

Early Career Applicants

If you’re hoping to land an internship or full-time early career position, you can apply to no more than three roles during the recruiting season. If you apply for multiple roles, you’ll need to submit those applications at the same time. Prudential’s early talent team will review applications and schedule interviews for qualified candidates.

The first interview round is a pre-recorded digital interview, during which you’ll answer skills-based, critical thinking, and behavioral interview questions. You get 60 seconds of preparation time for each question, followed by two minutes to respond and record your answer. You will receive one redo opportunity for each question.

If you applied to more than one position, you could receive up to three links for business-aligned interviews, each of which takes about 20 minutes. Candidates who move on in the process will be invited to a final-round interview.

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Experienced Applicants

Experienced candidates apply through Prudential’s job portal and then move on to interviews — digital, phone, or in-person — followed by a project for some positions, a background screening, and a potential offer of employment.

Prospective applicants can also sign up for informational events, register for a one-on-one meeting with a company recruiter, and attend virtual coffee chats on the hiring process.

>>MORE: Get ready to ace your interview by preparing for common interview questions.

Takeaways

  • Prudential Financial is a global financial solutions company with 50 million customers and more than 40,000 employees.
  • The company hires for positions in 11 job categories and has a 7,400-person technology team.
  • Students can apply for summer internships at Prudential, and new graduates have access to full-time early career opportunities.
  • Prudential gets an “A” for its culture score, with 84% of employees reporting a positive work environment.
  • The application process at Prudential includes digital, phone, and in-person interviews that focus on behavioral and critical thinking questions.

Explore what it’s like to work at other top companies with Forage’s company guides.

Image credit: monticello / Depositphotos.com

Emily Courtney is an Assigning Editor at Forage. She has written and edited career and education-related content as an Editor for FabJob, Content Specialist for FlexJobs, and Content Editor for Thruline Marketing.

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