Pros
The work itself is some of the most impactful, meaningful, and exhilarating work I’ve ever done. I started as a sub and moved to BAE management after a year. I never went home feeling like I wasn’t doing something important. If you choose to promote it is relatively straight forward because the turnover is so high. I made it to a senior level position because I cared more than everybody else and the position became vacant on an almost yearly basis.
Cons
The pay is, and will never be, worth doing the job long term. The customer will not pay the company enough to compensate you for the amount of work you do. Management does their best, but because of the pay there is little they can do to meaningfully effect the change you will want to see. You will never get paid more for being a good analyst. In order to progress, you will need to shed your analytical work in lieu for management. When I got promoted, I got the same benefits package but had to pay more per month because I moved into a higher pay bracket, essentially making the raise useless.
