Pros
The name on the CV. That's it. You learn that the next job you go to is actually an incredible place to work, and you're not as expendable or replaceable as you have been led to believe. You learn to appreciate that your next employer is grateful to have you as part of it's workforce, not the other way around.
Cons
The MD of Automotive said in 2013 that the biggest asset of the company was the building. That says a lot about how this company values its people. The executive team, and the HR department have utter contempt for the staff. The turnover rate has exceeded 20% and they believe this to be a perfectly acceptable situation in a company filled with skilled people. As other reviews have said, staff are bullied and belittled at manager level. If you are joininng to drive the product in the same way as Aston and Rolls Royce look elsewhere. Permission can be granted for you to have your photo taken next to one, or be invited to work for free at an event like goodwood where you will be worked like a dog and then not even allowed to take your poloshirt home as a momento. Pay is very poor and the company see no value in making staff happy, as other reviews have said, the arrogant belief is that you are "lucky to work there" and there are "hundreds of people queuing for your job" Be aware that the best pay deal you will ever get there is the one which you negotiate at your interview. The HR department are useless and definitely NOT on the side of the employee, with exit interviews being structured to avoid asking why you are leaving. When I started at a rival, I was offered the use of a vehicle for the weekend within three months of starting. I had worked at woking for nearly ten years and never had such an offer, being told that I never needed it in order to do my job as an engineer. I spoke to others who had been there since day one and thy were still not rewarded with this privilege even after all their years of service. An excellent tool the company has to incentivise staff and it won't let its employees anywhere near it - that's how much trust this company has in its employees and says everything about how it sees them. There is no incentive to stay for more than three or four years. There are employees there who have been there for over twenty years and they get nothing over and beyond the basic benefits for their time served. The company really does see them as nothing more than fools without initiative to look elsewhere. I now work with contractors who would rather cut their arms off than go back to Mclaren, however much they pay, and I know of no technical staff who have left that would willing go back.