Alpha FX Employee Reviews about "9 to 5"

Pros

- Good career opportunities - Very competitive salary - Honest team members and senior management - A no-nonsense work-hard-play-hard culture that not only pushes people to perform but also rewards them for doing so

Cons

- The working hours and the high-performance environment might not be for everyone, your mileage may vary

Pros

There are a lot of pros within the Portfolio Manager role, as well as being apart of the Alpha Group as a whole. The biggest benefit in my opinion is the development you will go through professionally and personally. The headline may sound cliche, but it is not just hearsay. You really do have the opportunity to change not only your life, but also the the lives of the people around you. This is only possible if you embrace the individual and collective journey you will all go on growing this business. The Portfolio Manager role is quite interesting as not only are you helping growing revenue for the business as a whole, but you are also creating your own book of business within the organization. The clients you onboard are yours, and the revenue that is generated from them is distributed on a perpetuity model instead of a one-off commission ticket. Generally speaking in most brokerage businesses, you are usually paid a low base salary, but given an uncapped commission structure. The opportunity at Alpha is different that you are given both. You will start off with a more than competitive base salary (personally have received multiple base salary increases along the way), as well as an uncapped commission structure. This is due to the fact that management understands the average sales cycles can be a little longer, and the development in your first few months at the business is immense for your future growth. Regardless of "individual performance" the training and development provided is unlike any other sales/broker job. Although it may seem uncomfortable, or awkward, your calls are reviewed as a collective, and feedback is given frequently and transparently. This isn't to shame or belittle, but to acknowledge that regardless of where you are in your career, you can always strive to become better. Feedback goes two-ways as well, there is no seniority in receiving and giving criticism to your teammates. The way the business is structured, the opportunity to being apart of Alpha is even more exciting than the glam of being an individual performer. Over 50% of the business are shareholders in the publicly listed entity (market-cap of over $1 billion). This holds true for the Canadian division as well. The team in Canada is smaller, and more early on in their journey, so the opportunity at hand is even larger for those who are up for it. The hours are longer, and the job does take a lot from you, but management is well also aware of this. This does not go unnoticed (outside of the promotions, and equity-share), there are multiple incentives planned throughout the year for all employees. They've varied from a weekend golf trip in British Columbia, a weekend in Miami, a boat cruise in Toronto, skiing in France, and going to visit the head-office for a few weeks in London, UK. Really evidences the "work hard, play hard" mentality many businesses preach.

Cons

The risk-reward tradeoff will always exist. You can't have your cake, and be able to eat it too. To be able to see the fruits of your labour, there will be some sacrifices made along the way. You must be able to take both rejection, and feedback consistently. This may be awkward especially in a smaller group setting. But if you are able to separate that the purpose behind being given feedback is for your overall betterment, and not a direct shot at you, the easier it is to accept it and to get better. The quicker you are able to be radically transparent with yourself, and others, the quicker you will be able to succeed. The hours are longer than your regular 9-5. This isn't a job where you can mindlessly check in, and do the bare minimum. The bare minimum here is to work hard. The difficulty lies in those who are consistently working to better themselves, and those around them and not satisfied by complacency. Culture is the first, and far-most important facet of this business. Due to this, and other reasons working from home every-day is not an option. Management is flexible of course for the odd-days where working from home is required.

Pros

I think it's rare to start each day and genuinely look forward to going into work. Working at Alpha has provided me with this opportunity. It's a fast-paced environment filled with like-minded individuals striving for a common goal. With this comes its challenges, particularly the need for constant self reflection, but with great reward. The company has grown to be a powerhouse in the industry, but without the typical bureaucracy that slows other big corporates down. In Canada, we've seen great success, and we are really just at the start of our journey. We've seen what is capable at our UK office and intend to match it, in an even shorter time. It's a great place to be, and one that I'll continue to work hard to grow. Other positives: - Earnings potential far outweighs other strategic sales roles within the financial industry and otherwise - Opportunity for equity - 70% of the team are partners in Canada - Develop relationships with business leaders / C-suite execs - Pushed outside comfort zone on a daily basis - Frequent travel and incentives - Grow deep understanding of internal and external business requirements - learning what makes companies tick and how to improve them

Cons

- Total commitment required to succeed

Pros

- One of the best things about Alpha is undoubtably the people. Everybody in the business has time for each other, whether they're a senior employee dedicating time to new employees or someone in another team giving you a helping hand or advice. - Being part of a team in such a fast-growing and strong performing company is extremely motivating. - The company culture is great, really social and energetic. With a bar and gym on site it really encourages people to mix outside of their respective teams. - Hands on approach to learning and developing, you are given responsibility from day one which helps you learn and grow. - Modern and fun office space in Paddington, really close to the station.

Cons

- The longer days & early starts could be seen as a con, but they're easy to get use to and you're fairly compensated for this (i.e. free to use the onsite gym whenever you would like to during your day, onsite barber and free fully stocked bar)