I worked for corporate, and I left Associated because I believed there was little prospect for long-term career advancement. Associated Bank really doesn't have a strong identity as a company (although I believe the CEO is trying to change that). I believe the reason for this is that the Bank is just an agglomeration of smaller Wisconsin/Midwest banks, and it didn't achieve it's current size by growing organically.
The reason I left was that Associated seems to only bring in outside talent to fix all of its (many) problems. Most of the Senior Executives hired under Phil's watch were hired from Union Bank in California or other outside banks. There were no in-house promotions (perhaps rightfully so). However, I left because I didn't believe that there ever would be any future in-house promotions; vacancies would continue to be filled from outside the company.
Overall, I just got the sense that no matter how well I performed, in 20 years, I had no chance at all of assuming a leadership position within the company (I have the credentials: an undergrad and grad degree from Wisconsin). However, this is the type of company you parachute into as an executive, not the type of company that will develop or invest in you.
Oh, additionally, I also found I was paid significantly less than my fellow co-workers who were hired externally. My advice would be to avoid starting your career here.
