Pros
The benefits and perqs of working at a major media company like this are lots and lots of fun. Great health insurance, 401k match and pension, long term care insurance, life insurance, etc etc etc. Things like free cds, free shirts, free dvds, free movie screenings, invites to fancy parties, VIP list for concerts, cool entertainment industry connections, etc., company wide events with open bar and snacks and goodie bags--all pretty cool. The culture is generally young and hip--I don't know what other companies do stuff like a "burger and beer bash," complete with a raffle, free beer, free In N Out and a hamburger eating contest--during the workday! The work culture is also pretty laid back, which is nice. Once in a while, bands come in to perform a few songs for the music supervisors, and that's also rad to get to spend time during the work day eating cupcakes listening to a private acoustic concert by bands like OneRepublic, Lily Allen, The Airborne Toxic Event, etc. And, despite my comments below about the glass ceiling, the workplace is very diverse with plenty of women and minorities in senior positions throughout the company. Also, the HR department is wonderful. They're very very supportive of employees reporting things like sexual harassment (they have a zero tolerance policy), and they're discreet about their investigations. Also, in general, the people are pretty cool, aside from a few lemons here and there (which I'm sure every company has). Most of the senior level management and directors are very open, respectful, supportive of their employees. Haven't really experienced any crazy mean controlling bosses--everyone is pretty chill! The company also has partnerships with lots of other corporations, so you can get discounts on new cars, televisions, your cell phone bill, flowers, etc. They also have a tuition reimbursement program of up to $10k per year!
Cons
The pay is often less than comparable jobs in other companies, which is kind of a drag. The raises and bonuses, at least in my sector of the company, are laughable. The maximum raise in my dept is 4% per year, prorated depending on if you've been there the whole year or not. And bonus is about 5%, also prorated, and also taxed at a crazy high rate. Most people agree that to start earning more money, you have to leave MTV. This leads to relatively high turnover around here. A year or two is a standard stay at MTV. It's not the kind of place where you can just go talk to your boss and say "I've been doing well, I'd like a raise." Welcome to the bureacracy. Also, bad behavior from employees is often tolerated at an infuriating level. Apparently it is difficult to fire people from a company this big, but it's still mind blowing the way some bosses allow inappropriate, unprofessional behavior, without adequate consequences. Supposedly there is no glass ceiling here, however, in certain pockets of the company (music supervision), there is a definite glass ceiling. The men consistently fail upwards while the women have to work twice or three times as hard to advance, and even then, they do not always advance. Often, the bureaucracy of working in a company this big gets annoying, and I wish we had an ombudsman. At least as far as I've experienced, there isn't too much of a commitment to excellence around here--a lot of people are just kind of cruisin'. It's fun for a bit, but gets old when things that should take days end up taking weeks or months.