Pros
Good compensation package and some of the smartest and best people in the industry. There was always good collaboration between each department, and managers are humble enough to listen to each and every employee as if all were managers. There was almost no way to tell that managers were above other employees, and despite treating others fairly, they also were able to lead by example. The environment though extremely professional, also had a casual air about it and that helped reduce some of the stress from an already extremely stressful job. It also seemed extremely easy to switch from one department from the other, such as from HR to trading access products on the equity derivatives floor. There were numerous meetings to review and praise each group about profit and success.
Cons
Very long hours, and at times when work just piled on (Summer credit crunch) it seems that no one was really able to take a break. Some of the trading and marketing desks seemed to be understaffed as they would almost always have to work over 14 hours a day five days a week, which made middle office have to stay even longer.