Pros
-Exposure to Microsoft cloud projects -Regular kudos / praise given via Intranet -Fast interview process to offer stage
Cons
-When my project workload was too much (13 concurrent projects of varying size and scope) and my mental health was impacted, I asked for help from my manager and attempted to set a healthy boundary regarding my capacity. I shared that I wanted to do a good job managing all my projects, but that the current workload was prohibitive. In response, 2 meetings were scheduled with my manager and her manager (director) just before the end of my 3-month probationary period where they could have dismissed me for any reason. In the meetings, the director repeatedly asked me if I wanted to continue working at AMTRA and told me that things were not going to change in terms of the workload. He went as far as telling me he had 10 new projects to assign to me and asked me to think hard about whether I wanted to continue with AMTRA. That was the day I began my job search. -Since starting work at AMTRA just a few months ago, I have seen a substantial number of resources leave the organization, numerous of which have not been replaced. The same cookie-cutter e-mail is sent each time someone leaves and there is no further discussion or acknowledgment about the departed resources or what steps AMTRA might take to address the attrition issue or burnout of the resources with increased workloads. AMTRA does not appear to be taking any steps to support the existing delivery resources with their increased workloads. As resources leave, their responsibilities are absorbed by the delivery team. -There was one other FTE PM when I first started who gave notice a month or so after. No replacement resource has been found to date. The expectation was that all projects would be managed by me, the Portfolio Manager, and the contract PM. Projects are assigned as they are signed off without apparent consideration of PM workloads / overall capacity. As noted above, when I finally drew a line and said that I had too much on my plate, I was met with what I perceive to be intimidation and bullying tactics. -You may be assigned a project one day and asked to kick off the project that same afternoon or the day after. Sometimes there is little / no time to prepare and understand the scope of projects you are being asked to manage. -Limited to managing Microsoft-focused cloud projects. No diversity with other technology stacks / focus. -Acted more as a project coordinator (vs Project Manager) with a focus on scheduling meetings for technical resources and taking notes. Limited visibility from technical resources made issue and risk management much more difficult (to impossible at times). -Technical leads do most of the project planning up front (at pre-sales) and do not provide much insight on their rationale / logic / timelines for their plans. The technical leads appear to have a direct line to the CEO and do not appear to answer to anyone else within the organization. -It is like pulling teeth trying to get updates from some technical resources, particularly the current lead of the Endpoint practice. That same lead told me during my first meeting with him that I was "just the scheduler". That same lead would escalate internally without informing me and left me feeling like I was not valued or required as part of his projects. I have spoken to others at AMTRA that have confirmed they do not like working with this resource due to his attitude. This one lead is heavily relied upon to deliver projects at AMTRA. -Up front scoping of projects was an ongoing challenge. CEO would scope out projects and then drop them on delivery resources without clarity of deliverables / plan. I spent plenty of time on one such engagement conducting internal and client-facing meetings trying to make sense of the project scope (over the course of 2 months). -Leadership "support" came across more as lip-service. When there were repeated issues with technical resources submitting inflated timesheets (for my approval) or not providing updates / responses or poorly scoped projects or other issues, it was up to me to figure out time and again. I never had the sense that I was truly supported. -The Portfolio Manager would regularly attend my project kickoffs and other meetings without providing clarity as to why. It may have been related to the billable mandate (i.e. trying to pump up the billable project hours). However, it felt like micro-management. -The benefits package is best described as the bare minimum. No coverage for glasses / vision and very limited coverage across the board.