Pros
-Opportunity to make a lot of money at a young age -very relaxed environment. It's a fun place to work most days -Senior Management for the most part is very friendly and approachable -I was rejected as a full-time trainee (I was hired on as an intern after I graduated) but I was hired as a full-time ops person with the idea that I could try to be a trainee again in a year or so.
Cons
-New employees are treated like pledges in a fraternity by even the lowest people on the totem pole (HR, compliance, etc.). I understand having to earn my stripes and impress the traders and my managers, but when, from day one, I have more responsibility than people who have been there for years, I'm not okay with them treating me like garbage. -Way to Much emphasis placed on "do what I say, not as I do" managers are lazy and shirk responsibility. -The best and brightest come here from the best schools in the country (Stanford, Northwestern, Kelley School of Business, MIT) and are relegated to perform menial tasks in the ops department while learning almost nothing about trading. It's no wonder that only 10% to 20% of trainees make it to become traders. -I worked incredibly hard as an intern to become a full-time trainee (they routinely hire college grads and interns with the idea that they can become "permanent" employees in a few months) but was rejected as a full time trainee. I understand that I may not have the intelligence or background as most trainees (I went to a well known public school with an awesome business school but was unable to get in) but I want it more than the other guys and did better in ops than they did. This makes me not want to do quality work since apparently it has no impact on the ability to become a trader.