Intense. But salaries and promotions depend primarily on who you know. NOT A MERITOCRACY!
Pros
A lot of specialists within their niches. Significant authority at the local level allows you to get the deal done.
Cons
Totally bogus review and compensation systems. The culture is more about who you know rather than what you know. You can really hurt yourself by trying to be a team player because if you don't exceed your personal goals, even if you sacrificed for the good of the team, the forced distribution in their employee review system means at best you will be graded as needing improvement (a 4 for developmental). Once you're graded low, forget ever moving up or transferring to another position. Check their Compny website for job postings. They now include the requirement that you have to prove you exceeded you performance objectives. But most often your objectives were subjective and you were forced, due to politics rather than merit, into their artificial distribution grading system. Managers that know less than their staff but take the credit for positive results while blaming negative results on ther staff. Efforts at portraying themselves as concerned about the employee's well being and work-personal life balance is pure bull.
