At BGI You'll Have a Great Time...Until They Let You Burn Out Because You Won't Have a Life.
Pros
Competence and professionalism are the hallmark of BGI's staff. Most businesses claim to hire "only the best" people, but BGI actually has been since way before the Googles of the world made it such a selling point. That means at BGI you'll mostly work among "best in class" professionals across all business or tech groups and will benefit from the associations. You'll have incredible tools from the cutting (but not bleeding) edge of technology and business, plus have the funding to sustain them. Your group will learn or create the absolute best approaches to your daily obstacles and apply your solutions without the immature drama that prevents so many other businesses from a similar excellence.
Cons
Although you'll be working among an unbelievable array of talented, well-balanced, fun people, you will not really have much life outside work. You'll easily work 50 hours a week (even if not in the office) and rarely get a lunch longer than 20 minutes. When you get to the point of absolutely having to take a vacation, there aren't enough people in your team to take up the load, so you'll get so punished with catching up on your return that it wipes out the benefits of vacation. Last, other than your initial-hire salary (which will be just slightly above market) after all this work, annual raises and bonuses will not accurately reflect your incredibly hard work, the total lack of work-life balance and the literally billions in profits a mere 3,500+ people help generate.