Calamos Asset Management – “Low pay for the work invested. Better opportunities elsewhere...head into the city.”

Pros

Free lunch (literally). Covered parking. Decent benefits. Good support to pursue the CFA (which is very much valued at Calamos).

Cons

Pay is horrid for the jr analyst position and doesn't get much better as you advance. Not much opportunity to prove yourself for the first few years outside of filing papers, making copies, data entry, etc. Wish I had those years back (huge opportunity cost in terms of knowledge not gained as a result of not doing research and very poor pay for the amount of time/work invested. You work a LOT...especially on meaningless tasks...and get paid very little). There are definitely better opportunities out there (which I've discovered). Turnover is high and sr turnover appears to have gotten worse since I've left. It doesn't look like anything has improved.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve communication (and review times). My reviews became so late that I forgot my anniversary date.