Pros
The Blackstone name/brand will get you in the door most anywhere you want to go, but it is not worth sacrificing your mental health. There are other blue-chip firms that pay better and value (+ reward) individual contributors. Hours are largely what you wish; you do not need to put in long hours (or generate meaningful work) to get promoted.
Cons
- Incompetent back office. - Front office allowed to make costly mistakes with no damage to their reputation, pay, incentives. - Massive gap between how back office and front office professionals are treated internally. Back office professionals are of a completely separate lower class than front office professionals. Back office not invited to same offsite events, networking opportunities as front office professionals further creating large divide and "tiers." - Growth and promotions do not follow meritocratic values/performance. Time in seat = progression, not tied to anything else. - "We are a family" mindset actively promoted by management messes with employee's ability to feel rightfully disenfranchised and unvalued; hard work does not equate to increased pay, recognition, or promotion. - Sexist leadership (especially towards women with children and family obligations). - 360 performance reviews are skewed. No one is verifying whether the appropriate people are actually reviewing each other. Management can fudge who they ask for reviews to enhance/shield their "ratings" as viewed from above. - Low buy-in for advanced technology (though the $ spend is high); teams continue to rely on outdated systems (systems that management is comfortable with). - Heavy reliance upon consultants in India; forced to work extreme hours with little to no recognition given to their hefty contributions. Often mistreated by U.S. employees and when mistreatment is brought to the attention of management mistreatment is shrugged off.