Great Comp, but Avoid if You are Concerned with Laws or Regulatory Compliance
Pros
Stunning office space, friendly people, great social events, typically get raises every year (even with average performance), firm continues to earn record-breaking profits every year, very positive future potential for a rapid-expanding business.
Cons
Horrific work-life-balance for US, as you'll need to work Sydney hours 3+ days a week, complete disregard for US regulatory environment (they are disregarding SEC, FINRA, and GLBA rules every day without concern), pre-Lehman risk management mindset ("We don't have to worry about XX, because XX has never happened to Macquarie"), out-dated end-user technology (no BYOD, you are required to carry a Macquarie laptop and Macquarie iPhone), too many lifers (they have only worked at Macquarie, so they don't know what established banks have done to solve problems), pretentious working environment ("Macquarie is special"), entirely disinterested in learning from mistakes of others ("it can never happen here, we're special"), complete inconsistency across different locations (no global standards), most decisions come handed down from Sydney (again, by people who haven't worked at other banks or haven't worked anywhere but other Australian retail banks), expects employees (of all levels) to fly economy class from New York to Sydney.
