Pros
-Good at getting young ambitious people excited to work hard at low pay. Look at the majority of 5 star reviews supplied by naive analysts and interns. This is largely accomplished through meet and greets with upper management to pump your ego. Ambitious minorites and working class whites tend to fall for this most of all. -Good at disguising ugly business practices with slang such as a "friend of Ed" or a "McKinnon special". -Great place to be overpaid and underworked IF you are the son or daughter of somebody who is connected.
Cons
-Sons and daughters of executives, clients, and attorneys / vendors / referral hubs get great compensation for minimal work. Others get pumped egos, job titles, more responsibility, and empty promises of career development. Prepare yourself for laughable pay and bonuses despite skill development and giving more and more time. -Contrary to what managers tell you, Wintrust job titles are not respected in the industry. The more time you spend here, the more you stifle your career trajectory. -You will help with very ugly business practices. The losses generated by Wintrust's ugly underbelly are supplemented on the backs of everyone else who is deceived to be overworked and underpaid. The dozens of connected sons have a pass to participate however much they choose. Meanwhile, they are first in line for real promotions and are paid more than you every step of the way. In facilitating these ugly promotions you're conditioned to nod and smile so you can carry on working hard to make up for it.