Two Principal^® employees—one in her first professional role out of college, another taking the next steps in a career grounded in global leadership—share welcome surprises from moving to Des Moines for careers at the Principal global headquarters.

An in-person campus gets two thumbs up. 

Being in person in a hybrid role mattered quite a lot to Amelia C., an actuarial assistant who interned in person at Principal the summer before her senior year in college. “I value it and wasn’t interested in starting somewhere remote,” she says. “I wanted to be at the hub.” 

Sarah S., a Principal AVP in internal audit, has found the Des Moines campus invigorating. “Being here, you’re able to be part of the company community,” she says.  

Sometimes it’s the simplest things. “At my old job, no one went to lunch. Here, we do lunch,” she laughs. Principal also does other things besides lunch to socially engage employees in Des Moines.” 

An engaged and welcoming campus builds networks.

During her interviews, Sarah was impressed with the people. I wondered, ‘Were people genuinely this nice or did they all have the same talking points’,” she says with a smile. Her transition proved the former. “You can feel intimidated when it comes to navigating a new workplace. But the resources and check ins for that were pretty immediate, both formally and informally. Principal has been great at making sure I feel supported.”

The supportive culture extends to outside of regular work to-dos. Amelia found the summer internship events and activities a natural bridge to involvement in the Principal employee resource groups. “It’s opened up so many things for me,” she says. “It’s been fun meeting people around the company, and building friendships to spend time with outside of work.”

Relocation support helps with transitions. 

Before she took on her full-time role, Amelia had a peek into the kind of relocation support that Principal offered.  

"For interns, Principal helped facilitate a sense of community amongst the group,” Amelia says. “We got to spend time together, and it helped to get to know people and make friends." After she accepted her position and needed to find a place to live, future co-workers offered recommendations and Principal provided a relocation stipend. 

When Sarah was offered her position, Principal provided flexibility to navigate the transition for her family. “When I got the job, my daughter was a senior in high school, and it was important to me that I didn’t disrupt her life,” she says. So, she traveled back and forth from Michigan to Iowa for a year. “While it wasn’t a typical hybrid set up, it helped to alleviate those worries.”  

When the time for a formal move came, a team helped with connections to realtors and services. “It’s scary to think about uprooting your life, but there’s never been a point where Principal didn’t live up to my expectations,” Sarah says. 

Des Moines rolls out the welcome mat for everyone. 

Being new to a community can feel intimidating. “It can be tough at my age when you don’t have children in schools, but there are lots of events and activities to get involved with and stay busy,” Sarah says.  

And Des Moines offers a lot for a wide range of interests, says Amelia. “It would have been harder to relocate if I had just stuck to myself and never went out and explored,” she says. “It’s super important to be intentional with how you use your time and get connected with the community. There are so many great ways to be involved, both at work and outside of it.”