Pros
Exposure to new/emerging methodologies, technology and ideas regularly Generally, great people in the trenches great branding and name recognition Any similar job will be a breeze after working for this company (Trial by fire?)
Cons
- No respect/career path for experienced hires, but your abilities will be used to the greatest extent with no recognition; Why the double standard? You don't survive for long if you are not good; - No reward system worth speaking of. - Negative feedback only. If you accomplish 99 of a hundred tasks (an oppressive number) as required, you will only get feedback on that one outstanding task unless you know the right people; - Extremely political, promotions based on who you know and a 'what have you done for me lately' mentality, which explains why more than a few of the managers are incompetent; - work.life balance is a core value on paper only; - laddering process used to determine salary increases and promotions work against the employee who changes career path since no matter how well you perform in your new role, the general consensus is that you can not be ranked higher than a barely functioning employee who has been in the role longer; Note that there is no transition period - you are just as likely to be given the same type opf assignment as that experienced employee with little support from mgt. - tendency to 'shoot self in the foot' by loading projects with new hires resulting in higher profit margin but struggling project, which in turn will (unfairly) affect the next performance evaluation of all involved. - Unable to determine role of HR. I think their job description requires that they back up the SMs and SEs so don't waste your time; - Burn-out pending