Pros
Development: Good opportunities, particularly in Finance - if you are a strong performer, there is much room to move, and to move upward quickly. The roles within Finance are varied and generally interesting. Here are some of the groups where you could work, at either HQ or LOB levels Planning & Analysis, Strategic Business Analysis, Pricing / Deal Support, Results Analysis, Investment Optimization, Controllership, Treasury, Tax, etc.
Work/Life Balance: the company really promotes work/life balance. Most days I work 9 to 6:30, and it's very flexible if I need to leave earlier. Occasionally work from home when I need to. There may be a few late nights in a month (after 7pm, ranging to maybe around 10pm max). It's generally manageable in terms of career and also personal life.
Salary: They changed the Bonus Incentive compensation structure recently, so for Managers, your bonus is all in cash. It used to be 50/50 cash & stock. This past year I banked a $24K cash bonus, which isn't bad considering the very good hours I work (for NYC), the development opportunities to move around and grow my career. Keep in mind I'm a Manager, at the Director level, you're looking at $40-$60k cash bonus + $20k in stock. VP's will generally take home a $50-100k cash bonus + stock + other leadership performance type bonuses. So while we don't pay investment bank salaries, neither does AmEx work you to death either.
Generally you will find the Managers at American Express to be in the 25-35 year old range, and Directors can be in the 28-40 year old range, and VPs+ and above can be in the 30-50 yr range. Obviously the star performers would be young. So if you're talented, you can rise at AmEx quickly, work good hours, and bank $100k - $250k a year (depending on level). Not shabby.
People: Very diverse at AmEx. Obviously many Asians and Indians, given it's Finance. People are generally incredibly very nice, easy to work with -- make sense, given that HR really screens to ensure a culture fit within AmEx. We like collaborative, easy to get along with, and smart people.
Cons
So if you're just an average or low performer at AmEx, you may find it hard to move around and grow your career. Every 18-24 months is generally a range of time where you would be applying for a new role within the company. If you're not very good, you would find it harder for a new team to want you.
Networking: you will need to do a fair amount of networking (surprise, surprise) at AmEx in order to move around. I think that's the case though with any big company. It obviously helps to network and the more people u know, the more opportunities.
Dead Weight: A company like AmEx is not very cutthroat or lean - it tends to carry a lot of deadweight around in terms of people who are not very good, but may still be at the company for a while.
