Bloomberg LP

Has internal "Bloomberg University," which is especially good for R&D folk.

Many well-respected technical authors come and speak from outside.

Staff and colleagues are generally very smart.

Opportunities to learn about many areas of finance as well as technical subjects.

Has a big snack kitchen and excellent fish tanks. The London office is generally very nice and gives you a sense of pride.

There's not any necessity to move into managerial positions if you are strong technically and want to stay doing hands-on programming.

Bloomberg is very much involved in charities and encourages the involvement of its employees in various volunteering activities. These are a great experience.

The summer parties are excellent.

Hours are long and the workload is large. It's not a good work/life balance.

People sometimes get shuffled around against their will into different teams. Your experience in a team can depend a lot on the luck of who your manager is. Some managers are great, others get put into managerial positions because they were good programmers but don't necessarily have any people skills.

Review process is somewhat opaque.

Atmosphere on the development floor is very quiet. You may find this a plus, but I found that it doesn't give a strong sense of belonging to a team, as most people are working independently. This can also lead to disjointed projects.

Most programming teams have their own business department, so if you like interacting with clients on the creative side of coming up with a new product, then you might find your opportunity to be involved in this a bit limited.

People who are put into managerial positions should be people persons, not shy programmers who feel they have learned all they can about their product but don't really want to interact with anyone.

Improve flexibility and work/life balance for those with families.

Employ a more diverse range of personalities in R&D. Get rid of the stifled library atmosphere. Get programmers involved in product design and really understanding what their clients' workflows are.