Fidelity Investments

1. Above-average pay, mostly. Great benefits! Great retirement.

Match 100% of your contributions up to 7% after a year, with a 5-year vesting program. Plus a 10% profit-sharing contribution each January! Tuition reimbursement and more.

1. Numerous different business units and sub-groups, many different career paths, and multiple locations. Working remotely up to 100% is a possibility for many positions (off-phone), depending on the business group.

2. Mostly good opportunities to improve your skills and knowledge.

3. Massive population to network with.

1. Bureaucracy still reigns. Common sense doesn't always prevail. The simplest things are made complicated. Every time a new senior leader arrives, there is a re-org or re-alignment. They say associates have a voice, and they do survey associates, but if you speak up otherwise, do so at your own risk.

2. The company is making great strides towards improving career mobility, but many legacy barriers remain in place, including attitudes of hiring managers and their superiors.

3. Very conservative company when it comes to risk. Decisions are made by committee after exhaustive discussions, even over the smallest and most trivial things. Many times your work gets trapped by becoming all about the process and not the outcome.

4. Top-heavy. Appears to be a large population in the lower pay grades but very few in the middle (managers, senior managers), and an enormous Director, VP, and above segment. The top segment is all about taking care of each other, when not competing or fighting one another.

5. Unless you sexually harass someone or get caught stealing something, no one gets fired unless it's an overall reduction in force. Lazy or inept associates are coddled or passed along.

1. Hire more outsiders to implement good change.
2. Promote more associates and middle-grade associates, not just Directors and VPs.
3. Be more transparent and allow people to speak without fear of repercussions.