Pros
- Good department-level working environment. My management was never overbearing or had unreasonable expectations. They made clear what was expected of me and my coworkers and they were very understanding of shortcomings or mistakes. - Excellent coworkers. The marketing department at the time I worked there was mostly staffed with fun, relaxed people that made me feel like part of the team almost immediately. - Fulfilling and diverse work. There was always something to do vis-a-vis graphic design but the work extended to other areas I was skilled in, such as video editing and social media. The work never felt like too much and was a perfect workload for someone looking into breaking in to private-sector graphic design, video, and social media.
Cons
- Low pay. This is a massive con. While I was never expected to work more than 40 hours a week, the workload I had while being paid just $16/hour came close to being insulting. Graphic designers are typically underpaid but not to this extent. - Conservative corporate culture. While the working culture at my department was acceptable, the overarching corporate values that come from the top are not. They are overwhelmingly steeped in old-fashioned corporate adages that absolutely no longer belong in a billion-dollar company. Even if the management I reported to did not particularly espouse these values, knowing that the President of the bank subscribes to ideology that says "Accelerate or die" and "Manage your own morale" is distressing enough. The talking points seem to be lifted right out of the GOP. While people are entitled to believe whatever they want, there's a reason top-flight Fortune 500 companies have long abandoned this way of thinking. - Occasional friction between departments. There were times where it truly felt the right hand didn't know what the left was doing and that led to issues working between departments. It could be a case of too many layers of people needing to know everything that goes on in departments not under their jurisdiction. So long as you are aware of these issues, there could be a lot of fun to be had working for the bank. Just know that with this level of pay, unless you advance quite quickly, you should be keeping your other options open.