FactSet Reviews

Pros

FactSet has provided me with opportunities to meet new people, learn new technologies and provided space to develop ideas into fully fledged products. The team ethic at FactSet is second to none and selfless way in which team members help others achieve goals for the benefit of all leads to great rewards. Senior execs are happy to speak with new recruits in the hallways and no question is off limit. It really helps cement the feeling that my opinions are taking and considered seriously and courteously.

Cons

If you don't like travel, then sometimes the intercontinental trips can become tiresome, but that is something that is easily overcome. If you don't like open offices that foster communication between teams and team members, then you can always put on some headphones and listen to some tunes.

Advice to Senior Management

Not much, only to continue the great levels of transparency so that the teams that deliver the vision can continue to feel like stakeholders in the process.

Pros

Great benefits
Flexible hours
Very smart and friendly co-workers
Opportunities for advancement in software engineering exist, if you are willing to speak up for yourself and make management aware of your desires

Cons

QA department is woefully under-staffed
Product Developers have too much control over engineering - they often tell engineers exactly which projects to work on and how to do them

Advice to Senior Management

We are a software company, to succeed, you'll need to ensure that good software engineers want to work here. Lack of support for engineering decisions from senior management and product development make the good engineers walk away.

Pros

Free lunches Mon-Thurs, don't have to work very hard, flexible work hours and vacation policy, inexpensive health coverage, good stock purchase plan, good environment for making friends

Cons

Antiquated technology, poor senior leadership, degrading employee morale, attrition getting out of control, poor project management, salary compression, way too much focus on the next quarter, poor office space planning, little to no decision making

Pros

Laid back atmosphere , and a low stress enviornment

Cons

Very few are motivated to do the right development thing

Advice to Senior Management

Value software development more ,long term software development that improves infrastructure is a good idea.

Pros

Friendly, helpful colleagues
Free lunch
Flexible working hours as long as you get the work done
Relative job security (offset by poor pay in cons below)

Cons

Poor pay - have felt underpaid from day one
Salary is very hush hush - feels like those who complain or threaten to leave get the bigger raises
Career path is DIY - don't get much guidance from managers

Advice to Senior Management

Please rethink the salary scheme since it's the main drawback to working here

Pros

Ridiculously smart people
Beautiful office spaces - very well maintained
Free lunch & snacks
Not bogged down in inane policies
Very friendly and supportive environment
Empowered to pursue new projects that would benefith the company
I trust senior management
Excellent health benefits

Cons

Sometimes NOT having tons of policies can actually make things seem unfair
Many people (myself included) are frustrated by the absence of a career path (this varies by department)
If job titles are important to you, this is the wrong place to work.

Advice to Senior Management

There's been an increase in communication from the top down - please keep it up.

Pros

On-site exposure to investment management professionals, opportunity to build network of relationships in buyside space, access to resources to learn about finance and financial markets, great training for new employees, benefits are exceptional

Cons

The promotion system is a mystery. At times it seems someone reaches into a bag and draws a name to decide who gets promoted. Some Consultants move up after a year, whereas some have been Consultants for more than three years. Seemingly no pattern to this. Also, a Consultant's skill set surpasses that of management in terms of ability to support clients very quickly. At that point if you don't have a clear vision of where your career is going, and make that known, you will be stuck in one place. You have to be extremely self-motivated to establish a long term career here.

Advice to Senior Management

Know our clients. Know our jobs. Ask questions.

Pros

Opportunity, you have a great chance at advancing quickly if you work hard.

Cons

Not too much job diversity, fairly specialized

Advice to Senior Management

Keep it up, so far so good

Pros

- Many opportunities to build close and friendly relationships with other members of the company. If there's a hobby you have, chances are you'll have no problem finding a buddy with the same hobby in the company and developing a long-lasting friendship.
- Decent health benefits package.
- Free lunch.
- Decent _management_ training program, although mostly for the benefit of the company (see Cons)
- Good job security. The company generally performs well despite market downturns, strongly believes in hiring organically, and never has layoffs.

Cons

- Compensation is approaching the bottom of the barrel given the skill set of the employees and completely disregards cost-of-living changes in the economy or region, despite the company's relatively good performance in the market.
- Very weak and poorly defined career growth path for many software engineering positions.
- Employees promoted into management rather haphazardly and arbitrarily. The company tries to solve this rather fruitlessly with management training.
- Many dead-end hiring positions setup arbitrarily without a care for how an employee can develop in that position. New hires: although there are some amazing opportunities at FactSet, be very weary of which position you interview for.
- Few non-managerial training options for software engineers.

Advice to Senior Management

Make sure your employees have clear career paths and room to grow within the company. Don't look for the best software engineers in the industry just to put them into a dead-end job. Please consider how an employee would be able to grow in your team before wasting their time and the company's money. I cannot emphasize this enough.

While you get that first part sorted out, seriously reconsider the compensation offered to your employees. Make sure money is an after-thought, so your employees can focus on developing themselves in the company, expanding their skill-set and start thinking about what is best for the company rather than how to get by.

Pros

The only thing you can feel good about FactSet is the name. You can say you are working in MNC.

Cons

No proper managment. No leadership quailty. No proper utilization of resources. No motivation or career advancement. No recognition of your work.

Advice to Senior Management

Should know the process first. How to motivate employee. Should know how to handle resources fully. Should be goal oriented.