Pros
Argus is a great place to learn a lot about the energy industry, especially if you're interested in working for an oil and gas company. It's actually a great place to be a journalist, as long as you don't mind giving up a byline and are willing to do a fair amount of mundane, administrative tasks. The pay is better than most journalism jobs out there, as are the benefits. Your beat is really what you make of it. If you want to write several stories a day, chase down scoops, dig through filings, then you're encouraged to do so. You work with a lot of great journalists, many who have left Bloomberg, Reuters or the WSJ for a job that offers a better work life balance.
Cons
While writing opportunities are excellent, there are few pure writing jobs within the company. Most reporters are tasked with putting out a daily report, which basically requires a lot of drone work. You have to collect prices and deals and enter deals into a spreadsheet and design a report. This can lead to long hours and can get mind-numbing after a period of time. The company is organized in teams based on product. Not all teams are treated the same. Some teams are allowed to come in at 10 am, take long lunches and they get by without writing any stories at all. Other teams are held to a higher standard. This is driven largely by line managers, but upper management is certainly not oblivious to the questionable work ethic of some employees and lets it slide. The lack of uniform standards has a negative impact on morale. General culture could use a little improvement. The individual people are quite nice to work with, but most people only communicate on yahoo. Sometimes it makes going to work kind of a drag, especially if you value human interaction. Reporters do not get bonuses, and there are few opportunities for promotion. You're not really incentivized to work hard, especially when employees who work lesser hours and contribute less are allowed to do so and indicate no qualms about their compensation. Be sure to counter whatever initial offer is given, as mine turned out to be a total low-ball. Management seems okay with a high turnover rate. This is great if you're just looking to get some experience, but if you're looking to build a career, Argus might not be the best spot.
