General Mills – “Don't believe the hype (at least not if you are in Marketing)”

Pros

* Very well respected company that's done well in economic turndown
* Looks stellar on your resume
* Immediate, broad responsbilities right from the start
* Uber-smart colleagues across all functions
* World-class headquarters
* Generous pay
* Work-life *flexibility* (not balance)
* Very involved in the community

Cons

* Work life balance is rare. Expect to work before work, at work, after work, and on weekends, just to keep up with the workload.
* "Up or out" environment. AMMs are commodities - if you come in with a large class - you could be out in a matter of months.
* While people from diverse backgrounds are welcome, diversity of style isn't. Expect to be a "yes man" to advance.
* "Great training" the company touts during recruiting is largely from on-the job learning & other people. In other words, 90% of it could be learned at any other top CPG company.
* Marketing Managers are incented to be great business leaders, *not* great people developers. As a result, many MMs with reputations for being horrible to work for are retained.
* Very slow advancement to promotion. Expect at least 4+ years to Marketing Manager at this point.

Advice to Senior Management

Be honest about what working here will be like when you're recruiting people. It's bad enough to have people relocate here under false pretenses, but to then begin tossing them aside in under a year (without giving them the chance to work with a variety of managers to truly see their abilities) is unforgiveable.