Pros
Before TransUnion, I worked years at a company where I spent most of the time walking on eggshells. My superiors were fine leaders in terms of their own work, but little emphasis was placed on managing people. As a result, there were multiple instances in which individual contributors like me were made to look incompetent, either directly (not allowing us to innovate processes or be proactive) or indirectly (discouraging or making it difficult to ask questions, resulting in situations that could have easily been avoided). Being a recent grad at the time, I convinced myself to accept that this is how a professional job was supposed to be. My needs were being met--I got paid, I had medical insurance and even PTO!--so what if I went home crying more than a few times? Coming to TransUnion was like walking out of a burning forest and realizing the world isn't supposed to be on fire. The thing that struck me first was the people. I am encouraged by my managers to ask questions and brainstorm ways to improve existing processes. Everyone is treated like they have something to offer, and ANY efforts to learn more or do more are greatly appreciated. The benefits can be overwhelming. In addition to the usual corporate package (medical/life, PTO, 401K), there are matching gift donations to charities, discounts on services like gym memberships, an internal recognition system, and on-site events for personnel to participate in and enjoy. The Chicago office even has its own fitness center with weekly yoga & cardio classes. I've been here for almost two years and I'm STILL learning what all we offer. Of course, it's impossible to enjoy any of the benefits without work-life balance. Good thing that is one of TransUnion's major strengths. We are discouraged from working overtime, and if we feel like we are losing that balance, the culture of communication makes it easy to talk to managers about it. There is still a bit of the "I'M working overtime but I'm going to chide YOU for working overtime" hypocrisy that I experienced at my old job, but here, it comes from a place of "we don't want you to burn out," not "stop costing us extra money." My experience here has been incredibly refreshing so far. TransUnion is a great company that cares about its people. It's fair to say my past experiences certainly color my perception, but at least I can say so far TransUnion hasn't given me a reason not to trust and appreciate the company. I feel like I've struck gold.
Cons
Despite how close TransUnion comes to perfection, no workplace is perfect. When there is a particularly messy or tedious challenge in some core process, the teams who have stake in managing that process quickly become reluctant to own it. When it happens repeatedly, we lose role clarity and it makes everyone involved look bad. It's especially challenging for new people who are told "when X happens, ask Y" only for Y to push them off to Z. I do think it's getting better (attitudes are changing), but it still happens on occasion.
