Pros
Young, rapidly growing company (approx. 50% y.o.y) that maintains a start-up culture where you can make a significant impact within weeks of joining. If you are driven enough, you can rise through the ranks quickly and will be rewarded both financially and through career progression (examples of people rising up to manage a team of analysts and roster of clients within 18 months of joining are not uncommon). You will be in front of clients with responsibility for specific accounts within a matter of months. You will learn how they research and analyse industries/companies, and the key topics they consider most important when doing so. Your commercial awareness will grow at an exponential rate – you will learn about industries you never knew existed and how to research and break down industry value chains in a matter of minutes. Very generous incentive scheme with options for secondments abroad and paid qualifications/study support (IMC, CFA level 1, language classes etc) in your first two years. Great working environment and social side to the business (majority of research team are under 30 with Thursday drinks, football, netball teams etc). Intensive training and development plan with a set meeting every month dedicated to discussing feedback and progression with your manager. Everyone’s views are respected and extra-curricular involvement in aspects such as marketing, recruitment and IT are encouraged.
Cons
An eye on the bigger picture and self-motivation for continuous learning is a must – it is easy to become robotic and lose interest if you focus on the process based aspects of the job - as with any job. Equally those that approach the job as such, generally do not perform as well and do not get as much out of it. Target/output driven environment can be difficult for some people to handle. External factors that cannot be affected (e.g. last minute changes of deadlines on the client side) can prove frustrating at times when it affects your work.