Pros
The firm has a good name because it has been successful Stable - never any layoffs (but there is a tradeoff) Work with some genuinely smart people Strategy and direction from the top is generally spot on Almost unlimited capacity for growth and learning for those that are gifted and work really really hard If you are a top performer, comp remains competitive
Cons
This is a dying industry The firm's success is based on investing the barest of minimums in staffing and somehow getting by relying on people working ridiculous hours while pretending to promote work life balance: if you can't take time off, the problem is not that you have an impossible workload - it is that You cannot prioritize. It's your fault. As a result, the merest business-as-usual functions operate on a crisis footing most of the time While the firm is always announcing spectacular executive hires, hiring for normal functions is constrained and moves slowly. Compensation is ALWAYS lagging behind the rest of the street. Year-end is designed to reward the top performers with comp that is competitive with the market - if on the other hand, you are not willing to kill yourself, be prepared for significantly lower comp. You may leave in frustration and will not be replaced - everyone else will simply be expected to work yet harder. The technology backbone of the firm is not well maintained. IT budgets are diverted to big new initiatives - some good, some not, but the typical upkeep of systems, models, tools is really really bad. Users outside of technology have had to invest in their own coding skills to build tools to work around system problems