Pros
-You work with a lot of truly exceptional people (intelligent, high bar for excellence, very thoughtful, sound judgment.) This is really, really invigorating. -If you are willing to go out and get it, there is nearly an unlimited opportunity for learning. Feedback is sometimes harsh, but very often enlightening as a way to improve oneself. Quite frankly, I think people telling you things you may not want to hear but will make you better is a damned good indication that they care about you and/or your learning. -The culture is very strong and has a lot of benefits (and some issues, to be sure)... The bottom line is that without having worked here for a reasonable period of time, the culture will not make much sense because there is not sufficient context - There isn't enough space to explain it here. What I will say is that I worked at BW for 5 yrs, have reasonable professional experience elsewhere, and consider myself well-adjusted. I literally have no idea how some people can draw the conclusions that they are drawing. You'll have people calling it crazy (I am an excellent bettor, and I'd bet that the majority of those people are likely either more emotional side of the spectrum [which is totally fine, just not something BW's culture is particularly tailored to], stubborn, or are just bitter because they were fired), which I think is a pretty unfair assessment and highly unlikely to be true given how effective the culture has been at (a) retaining a large number of employees that lasted past 12 months and (b) generated excellent investment outcomes for decades. -The company parties are really fun. The company goes all out, the event planning team is awesome, the younger employees aren't afraid to let loose, and even the more experienced people enjoy a good social atmosphere. The peak of fun was 2007-2009, but I think the social scene is still fairly vibrant. -The benefits and perks are certainly north of market.
Cons
-There are very, very, very few influential investment decision-makers (let's say 4-5 inner circle, and 5 more right outside that). That's it. If anyone says otherwise, they're lying. The bar for being one of these people is exceptionally high, and the path to get there is ill-defined and quite frankly, involves a fair bit of randomness (honestly, you need to be exceptionally sharp and conceptually gifted, but there is a right-place, right-time element to it.) If this is what you want to be, you're fighting an uphill battle. There are other rewarding roles at BW, but don't expect a seat at the table. Plus, as the cream has risen to the top in the last few years, there is just a much smaller probability of getting to these roles. -Compensation-wise, they certainly pay less than other hedge funds (their A-players get paid handsomely relative to everyone else, but even the A-level is less than other smaller shops), but at BW's size and with it's structure (analyst don't have their own books, P&L, or even individual investment ideas), that should be expected. With that being said, they pay well, but I certainly would not put it in the "pros" as others have. This comment applies only to investment professionals, as that is the only thing I have context for. -Work/Life balance is tricky. People work hard, but the experience is all-encompassing. Most of my friends were BW people. I didn't mind this, but over time, it became tough to escape work. People liked their jobs generally, but there were ups and downs. Social dinners involved talking about work ups and downs. People knew how to talk to each other in the parlance that BWers often used. The culture is great, but it is so hilariously easy to make fun of, so we did that too while we simultaneously appreciated it's value. Like I said, a positive thing for me, but perhaps a negative for some. Work is also really tough and intense usually, so I'd come home with my brain mush. It was tough, but rewarding.