Pros
Good level of camaraderie between juniors
Cons
This firm sells a lie from the start. They lure in bright, overqualified graduates by pretending to be a “research-driven” business, when in reality it’s nothing more than a run-of-the-mill contingent recruitment shop. The only thing that sets it apart is the size of the egos at the top. The partner refuses to admit that, so he struts around like a CIO, while the principals parade as if they’re portfolio managers, a ridiculous fantasy that everyone else is forced to tolerate. The reality is terrible pay for juniors, long hours, and a culture that grinds people down until they burn out. Juniors are treated as disposable, with no training, no career development, and no respect. They over-hire grad cohorts annually because they know within a year over half will have come to their senses and left. There’s a seemingly transparent commission scheme, but in practice it’s regularly tweaked by management so they can financially penalize staff according to whatever agenda they decide is “right” at the time. Management has no genuine leadership skills, their only tools are micromanagement, empty titles, and delusion. At times it feels like the company has gone out of its way to find the worst people in the industry and build a business around them. To make matters worse, apparently once you’ve worked here, your career is theirs indefinitely. I’ve watched junior colleagues with only a few months’ experience be treated like some kind of existential threat just for wanting to move somewhere new. If a company is that terrified of juniors in their 20s leaving, it probably has much bigger problems than enforcing unpaid restrictions. The result is that the office atmosphere has soured, people don’t feel valued but are somewhat stuck. These clauses don’t serve any real commercial purpose, they’re nothing more than a way for leadership to exert control and feed their own insecurity. If you’re considering this place as a first step into your career, don’t. It’s not a research firm and it’s definitely not a hedge fund. It’s a toxic sweatshop that will waste your time and drain your energy.