Only take a job @ SS if you are desperate for $$$ or a newby from undergrad and need experience
Pros
-large global company recognition meaning it looks better on the resume than a small shop where no one knows it -opportunity to work with other large banks, hedge funds, private equity, and influencial finance companies in the field like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, HBK, DE Shaw, etc. -there are in class training available for topics like Swaps, CMBS, Options, Derviatives, etc. (people loved to take the Bloomberg classes free snacks, people abused it where they bring hockey sized bags to literally rob the place, lolol, not really but it looks bad on the company where you send a bunch of people for training and some come out with grocery bags full of junk food) -get to learn the ropes at a financial institution -not extremely hard to get a job here in comparision to like a Goldman, MS, Credit Suisse, ie. Tier 1 banks that you hear all the time on the news -good benefits, pretty everything was covered under my insurance -company contributes to your pension -can get promoted or advancement rather early because a lot of people leave once they have some decent experience for better paying companies
Cons
-back to one of my points above, as its not extremely hard to get a position at SS this is probably why the pay sucks, competiting firms like Citco use to pay $10K more for the same work and crap you'd get a SS. does that make any sense probably not. -luckily, I didn't have this issue but I've heard managers on the floor where they require their subordinates to take an hour lunch just so they don't have to pay them for it(non paying lunch and breaks required). there is a lot of work typically and most people eat at their desk so they can finish it and go home early or at least a decent time. depending on the time you are probably guaranteed to do some sort of OT especially during month end, quarter end, year end, and etc. this is really where you get your pay when you are a junior or a senior. you get 1.5x pay, some juniors, seniors, can honestly no lie make more than there managers or supervisors if they do crazy amounts of OT. -raises are LIMITED to 10% of your salary. meaning there is a max. raise you can get. 10% sounds like a LOT for a raise when you get promoted from a junior to a senior position but when your salary is so low the 10% is actually really not much from an absolute POV. -once you hit Supervisor you do NOT get OT which sucks because you still have to put in a lot of time. I've heard of people leaving around 5-6PM cause basically because you are not being paid for the additional time you put in. why would you stay around? come on SS you gotta change these dumb rules. -this one is kinda releated to the above, due to the lack of $$$ this leads to high turnover within the company. -on my team alone I'd say probably 7-9 people have left either for a higher paying job, terminated, or layed off, my hiring manager left before me. -senior management loves to play political games, stop these games, when a client ask for things don't just say YES 100% of the time. you need to understand that things don't come easy and need time to put together and it takes time and effort. -basically the biggest "CON" for working at SS is the pay sucks, real easy to break it down. you come to SS more for the experience and title and then you get out once you get those things. besides that things are pretty good.
