Pros: The company is very developer driven. You quickly take ownership of systems and have heavy influence in their design. Compensation and benefits are impossible to beat. Biggest tech firm HQ'd in NYC. Way better than SF, in my opinion. The last few years, there's been a huge push towards open source technologies.

Cons: Working at any large company leads to quite a bit of office politics and bureaucracy.

Pros: Lots of free food, snacks, etc.

Cons: Note that all ratings given here are from the perspective of a contractor on the WSS Core Services Team, in R&D (a truly miserable place to contract due to the supervisors that run it). Contractors on the WSS Core Services Team are treated with no support or regard. You are a cog, nothing more. You receive absolutely no support or development of any kind. Requests for information are constantly met with annoyance and dismissals. You are frequently left out of team meetings and other huddle discussions. You have no external access to systems but are required to perform exactly as a full-time employee with full access (meaning that you have to be in the building ALL the time). The WSS Core Services Team in the R&D Division is a terrible, terrible place to contract.

Pros: Good networking environment and opportunities.

Cons: Very political to the core.