JPMorgan Chase

The people are the main reason to work here; they are professionals and have a nice, inclusive culture.

Also, there is high mobility to move throughout the company, offering potential to work anywhere in the world.

However, since it is such a large company, your experience may vary depending on which group you are in.

The heavy red tape involved in getting anything done is the largest challenge. Something that should take 10 minutes for a knowledgeable individual can take up to 3 weeks due to permission requests.

Also, the culture is borderline workaholic, with cars arriving at 8 AM, not leaving until 6 PM, and many people taking desk lunches.

As with the Pros, these might vary between departments. I have heard from others who barely work at all.

Focus on quality over deadlines. It appears counterproductive to push code design and creation as fast as possible before requirements are complete or the necessary tools are requisitioned. To me, it seems like it produces much more work for testing cycles and operational support, when if the code was done properly, these teams should ideally have little to do.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.