Vantaggi
If you are into high fashion and have the money to spend (even with the employee discount, the prices are sky high), NM might be a good place for you. The company is antiquated, but they have implemented a some large-scale changes, most notably a great educational program with courses ranging from Microsoft Office to Visual Merchandising. The courses are open to everyone who has the time to attend, some are required depending upon your position. Attendance is tracked on an internal system so your manager can see your progress, providing an excellent record of "going above and beyond" if you are looking for a promotion. Salaries are on the low end, but they are generally open to negotiation once the job offer is made. In calmer economic times, bargaining for a 5-10% increase would not be unreasonable.
Svantaggi
The corporate facilities at NMO and NMD are exactly the opposite of what you would expect. Instead of being glamorous and trendy they are crowded, visually unappealing and worst of all, dirty. The day I started, my desk was covered with dust and food/drink stains, the keyboard had spots all over it and the back of my chair was coated in long, blond hairs. The workday of the job you are hired for is entirely dependent on your manager and your department. Business hours are officially 9am-6pm, but due to budget cutbacks several departments are required to work 10-hour days at least twice a week. The main point of contention caused is that they take every possible step to declare all salaried employees 'exempt' according to the Fair Labor Standards Act, despite the fact that many of the positions do not meet the criteria. The environment can be very cutthroat, also depending on your department. I witnessed a significant amount of unprofessional, even childish, behavior between members of the same team to the point that the general feeling around the office is that you are in some sort of soap opera (if a soap opera were ever staged in a dingy, poorly-lit cube farm). On the whole, I do not recommend working for Neiman Marcus if you can possibly help it.