Pros: Ability to work closely with the business and see real impact.

Cons: Has recently become more hierarchical and bureaucratic.

Pros: I work in a team with excellent team spirit and culture; people help each other and cooperate, and are encouraged to learn and grow. "You own your career" is helpful as well as important to remember throughout your career. Many learning resources are available at work, as well as on home devices (Pluralsight, Egghead, Safari Books, ...). It's a big bank, but the NJ office (30 Hudson St) has a general "casual dress" policy; suit and tie are okay, but few people wear them. Some wicked smart people work there; there's lots to learn from them. I was able to work from home whenever needed (family, sickness, ...), and be productive from home.

Cons: Big companies come with many restricting policies from the Feds, which limit personal trading and require more paperwork to get seemingly important stuff done. More paperwork means less focus on what you think is job-relevant. The company blocks (has to block) many websites because they might allow you to post text that it cannot retain and track. Unfortunately, that includes many sites that can be very useful for developers, such as Google Groups and blogs.

Pros: Outstanding culture, respecting hard work.

Cons: It can be a competitive environment.