Pros
The pro of working at NT (as a whole) is their prestige, and their overall employee benefits including the employee discounts to museums. Also, NT has invested in their Tech infrastructure, and most functions are automated, so your main responsibility will be data validation/analysis. At, a department level, the only pro is working shoulder to shoulder with the other accountants is really what make this job and department tolerable.
Cons
The only cons at a company level, that I experienced, was dealing with HR. They may be great at recruiting (although the pay is below market), but their ability to handle complaints is virtually non existent. At the department level, there were many factors that made the job intolerable, such as poor leadership with the section managers, the mandatory overtime, lack of account ownership/accountability within the department, communication between teams (grouped by section managers), lack of universal training. Also, lack of advancement within the department was a major con. If you are young, I would highly recommend you not interview/accept the offer, because you will stunt your professional growth, as the process is so automated, you will not learn technical/profession skills. This is also a large company, therefore you will often time be ignored/invisible to upper management. The base pay is not competitive, and not an ideal scenario when you are trying to get established. This company/department would be an ideal workplace if you are close to retirement and want to enjoy the benefits (retirement, pension, flexible work hours etc). Also a good option, if you choose to be a "lifer" at a younger age. For the record, I am basing the above on my experience at Northern Trust, and how I rate them relative to other companies that I have worked. I was content while working at NT, and stayed with the department for 4-7 years. During that time, we had high turnover in staff and management, and overall restructuring of the client servicing department that was newly forming. It has been awhile since I last worked there, but I keep in touch with several of the current accountants, and it doesn't seem like the root problem with the department has been addressed/solved. They are still dealing with high turnover. In conclusion, I would recommend the company to a friend, but not the Fund Reporting Department. Job satisfaction really depends on what department you are placed, and not uniform across offices.