Competent technicians, attractive place to work for young IT graduates but often a poor work environment
Pros
Competent IT technicians to learn from Nice people in the support team Good starting point for a young IT professional Paid for qualifications and (very) slight salary increases after completion Opportunities to learn and gain experience with a wide array of technologies. Good facilities (kitchen, coffee machines, large seating area, large television and PlayStation) Annual bonus can be between 5-10% of salary Opportunity to move to different departments/roles after proving yourself
Cons
Customer list is ever growing, this is to the detriment on the quality of work that can be provided due to increasing demand. Stressful work environment, lack of support from managers during these times. Support departments are treated poorly by the rest of the company, they are overworked and paid the least. Senior managers are clueless and make decisions that benefit the business, not the staff Blame culture, you will be chastised for small mistakes. Despite the company priding itself on not adopting a blame culture, it is 100% a blame culture that can get quite nasty. "Customer is always right" attitude is taken to the extreme, meaning the management will rarely take your side even if the customer is wrong. Salaries are low, particularly for graduates and apprentices (awful for apprentices) Shift rotation is frequent, work hours are poor (06:00am-15:00pm starts for a week, 13:00pm-22:00pm the following week) Only 20 holiday days a year, less than most companies. Inadequate training provided for certain technologies You will be expected to buy into the company culture and if you're even slightly critical of anything, they will try to silence you/get rid of you. Conversations are monitored, you need to be very careful about everything you say. Directors are very petty, they hold grudges. If you want to leave you're told that the directors can make your life difficult and blacklist you from working in Norfolk. Clause in contract trying to prevent you from working for other companies within a 20 mile radius of the office for 3 months after leaving. You will be threatened with court action if you try to void this clause.