Vantaggi
Analysts and Senior Analysts are some of the most intelligent and interesting people you'll meet. If you're a linguist with a keen interest in a particular country/region, you will be able to use your language and explore that region in greater depth. Your writing style will undoubtedly improve and you'll develop an exceptional work ethic. When you move onto your next job, no one will believe what you had to put up with (sounds like a con but it's always great to look like a hero).
Svantaggi
I have waited several months to write this as I wanted time to reflect and be fair. Here goes... Management - both middle and senior - is toxic. S-RM is an abusive employer that will extract everything it possibly can from you and leave you exhausted and almost constantly angry until the day you leave (on average 12 months later). It is expected that you will work overtime (working day is 9-6) and objecting to this is not an option - if you use this to demonstrate your hard work during appraisals, you're criticised for inefficiency and told to practice 'give and take'. Middle management constantly assigns reports with totally unrealistic deadlines (e.g. a 4-day report to be turned over in 1.5 days) meaning you are forced to work until 11pm to complete with no gratitude. In fact, you should never expect positive feedback - the only feedback you'll receive at S-RM is a constant stream of criticism and general negativity for your high-quality and highly skilled work. Even if you can get your head down and write some excellent reports that each - written in a matter of days - generate more revenue for S-RM than your annual salary, it's entirely futile due to poor business decisions by 'the board' (which, incidentally, is 100% pale, male, and stale) that push the company into negative EBITDA and lead to layoffs. NB: it is egotistical and downright irresponsible to move to a flashy new office that you can't afford. It's always a pleasure for a non-linguist to criticise your translation of a particular word based upon a different result from Google Translate - evidently you can spend several years learning one of the hardest languages in the world but an uptight, underachieving middle manager can still overrule you because, as we all know, Google Translate is foolproof. Naturally, as a mid/late-twenties child with multiple degrees and fluency in multiple languages, you cannot be trusted to make any decisions yourself let alone - SHOCK HORROR - meet clients. Consider yourself the Chosen One if you're ever involved in a client call, and the Messiah if you meet one face-to-face. Even emailing a client is not an option. We must leave the socially (and managerially) incompetent superiors to do this for us, lest we forget our insignificance. Whilst I was based in London, this is certainly not an isolated case. S-RM's Directors are inexperienced for the jobs they hold and these leads to countless examples of misconduct in the workplace, including the protection of middle manager bullies and racist belittling of analysts in international offices (did someone say Hong Kong?). Social gathering between analysts is discouraged and sometimes outright opposed, I can only assume it's because this would lead to an anarchic uprising that would dismantle the entire regime... Honestly, the cons are never-ending, just work somewhere else. Work somewhere that appreciates and celebrates your talent, encourages a positive work-life balance, and compensates you appropriately. I was once told by my feeble S-RM line manager that the grass isn't always greener...well kids, it is. *Cue the 5-star review from a current manager to enhance the average rating*