BoA Merrill Lynch Reviews

Pros

Friendly team
Good manager
Work on the trading floor involoves talking to analysts – one can learn a lot about how the trading works without previous knowledge in this topic.

Cons

IT could use more good software engineering practices. There are a few teams that do code reviews. Although there are some teams that have a lot of tests in their projects.

Advice to Senior Management

Concentrate more on the quality of produced software. It is a common thing, that projects that were to be only temporary are used for a few years anyway – it is a myth that we do software that next day will be thrown away (so we do not need to refactor it or write tests for it).

Pros

- respect for work-life balance
- independent work area
- friendly colleagues

Cons

- feudal managerial structure
- bloated middle management with no real ability
- no advancement opportunities
- poor feedback
- roles too specialized

Advice to Senior Management

- Remove middle management. An international bank needs big-picture, holistic-thinking managers. Give better training to middle managers.
- Organization too bloated. Communication is cumbersome. Make organization flatter. Use modern tech tools for facilitating top-bottom communication.
- Improve feedback tools. Current feedback mechanism is byzantine and too dependent on middle management. Make it more fair, clear, simple, and easy to use.
- Ensure risk is given resources to do its job.

Pros

Operations Rep in a large department that's part of a much bigger company. Size and scope of BOA gives you lots of options for networking, job leads, and learning new lines of business. In my experience in back office ops your managers / team are all very supportive and willing to help you meet your career goals.

Cons

Ongoing problem with teams / areas being isolated from and in the dark regarding what other teams or businesses are up to, or how a system/process used by another area works. Feels too much like a bunch of separate companies struggling through their differences to squeak by, instead of one cohesive firm.

Pros

Internal mobility is accessible and has variety. Online training library is decent and covers a number of topics. Self-service tools help employees to be self-reliant to order equipment, tech support etc.

Cons

Lots of bureaucracy, hampers efficiency; benefits are poor and explanation of options are very confusing to understand what the option is and if one is eligible.

Advice to Senior Management

Keeping some of the morale boosting programs is a small investment with large returns.

Pros

Very vertical culture so a lot of room for growth and promotion. Supervised and constantly mentored by those above you. You spend a lot of time doing individual work so be sure that you are ready for it.

Cons

The work is very repetitive and it takes a long time to move up in the ranks. A lot of restrictions are placed on you when you first start out.

Pros

Work life balance was great for those in project management. Remote working opportunities allowed for flexibility to allow for work life balance.

Cons

The internal mobility at the company was low during the time I left. Manager held me back from moving to another position.

Advice to Senior Management

Ensure managers allow and encourage direct reports to move beyond their groups to other opportunities if they want to. Check to make sure managers are not holding people back.

Pros

Relatively calm environment. You are allowed to work from home. Direct peers are supportive and helpful when seeking help and understanding.

Cons

Poor management. They lack communication on priority and justifying change within the organization. It's also a men club/country club feel, where if you are in, you will be taken care of, otherwise, your doom.

Pros

Good deal flow. Strong platform.

Cons

Morale, culture, layoffs, lack of communication

Advice to Senior Management

Get your house in order

Pros

its a brand name and nothing special

Cons

boa don't care for d poor associates..

Pros

At Merrill Lynch the hours were very flexible and it was a comfortable work environment. Additionally, there are an infinite amount of resources available to PMD's.

Cons

It is extremely difficult to get through the program. While working there it was said that the pass rate for the program was less than 10%.

Advice to Senior Management

Rather than focus on the number of PMD's hired, I think they should hire less and focus on spending more time helping PMD's acquire assets.