Pros
Serious industry player, and getting better and better. Firm is growing in size, fast, showing competitive capabilities. Job is challenging, and lately they have invested a lot in a teaching program for entry level hires. Traders are put to work, fast. Great technology and common resources. Traders are outfitted with the best computers, monitors, desks, etc. They have a great, and continuously improving, central tech group that allows traders to focus on their specialty, rather than getting tech to work. Health care is stellar, employees pay zero premiums for themself and family, and plans really are top notch. They recently made a bare-bones HSA plan available and contribute $1200, which is actually a reasonable option for young healthy people. Large variety of lunches from restaurants, incl. Sweetgreen, are available to choose from every day. Great snacks, drinks, coffee, and typical breakfast items are also plentiful, including many very healthy options. 401k match is moderate, they fully match 4%, then half match up to 2% more (basically a 5% match). No non competes / garden leave typically (maybe there's a few higher management people, hard to say). Overall coming in to work each day is a pleasurable experience for the most part. It's challenging and rewarding. I feel like employees are treated firmly as adults.
Cons
Management is questionable in some areas. Certain groups keep rigid, sometimes downright mean leaders for far too long, though this is sometimes fixed after a long time. Many leaders I really would not want to get a beer with. No flexibility to work remote for traders, so you're in the office full time. Average workload for traders varies by group. Some groups around 45 hours, some closer to 55-60 (Fridays people get out quick though). There's not really much of a culture here. Granted, a pro is there is VERY little bureaucracy, meetings, or even politics. But if you want to work somewhere that really maintains some some top-down attitude of peachiness and employee happiness, this isn't it. For example, there's a few employee events a year, and a few happy hours spaced around the year, this isn't a party atmosphere like working at some tech company. OM is very focussed on the business. CEO sends annual leadership survey, which I fully believe they act on as necessary. But they aren't commonly in-touch with people 2+ levels below them for purposes of check-ins, trainings, etc. Compensation is base salary plus bonus, and traders are quoted a bonus min and max that updates each year. Unfortunately, how the numbers are calculated seems to be a bit of a mystery especially lately. It seems that your individual, or even group contributions are weighted far less than one might think, compared to the company, in an overtly meritocratic industry. Some people were surprised at the minimal or no changes to their bonus, and future min/max bonus this year; it almost seemed like personal contributions and current/future risk-taking range were not considered. Paternity leave is 6 weeks, while maternity leave is 16 weeks I think. This further widens a gender pay gap, as it more so encourages mothers to take time away from career while having fathers work again sooner. Traders are overwhelmingly male at OM (probably 80%+), I would really like OM to not differentiate parental leave benefits by sex. Vacation is a tight 3 weeks, until you get at least 5 years of service then it bumps to 4 weeks. This is firmly at the lower bound of the industry today, and is notably difficult given traders work 100% full time in person (no remote) and only receive the bare minimum US trading holidays (Approx. 8. You can expect to work or use PTO for Black Friday, Christmas Eve, and NYE). They by no means require you to take it all, but they also respect it fully when you do take it (and I've never heard it brought up during compensation talks). No dinner, but honestly maybe that's a pro because it means they don't expect you to stay there all night. Recruiting practices a number of years ago were questionable and harsh. They'd slow roll you then get upset if you want a week to look around more. It may have improved some, but I would be surprised if it was perfect now. Also, high management interviewers often expect you to divulge company-specific details.