Pros
Unparalleled breadth of experience in ecological sampling. You will not get more experience and training elsewhere. It's a great opportunity to get your feet wet and figure out what interests you in ecology. I learned everything from mammal handling to plant ID to truck maintenance. You get paid to be in beautiful natural areas. Almost everyone I have met who works here is super chill and very passionate about science. The company really cares about your safety in the field and constantly tries to make things better. Protocols generally make sense as applied and any issues with execution are resolved quickly. At the domain office level, temporary techs are respected as young scientists and views are valued. You get paid per diem directly, not just a meal allowance.
Cons
Long and early days in the field wear you down after a while. Schedule changes constantly due to the nature of working outside with living things. Benefits aren't great just technically offered. Pay isn't enough to keep most techs around more than 2-3 seasons because it's a physically difficult job and there's lots of travel so work-life balance can be tough. Although NEON is a "N"etwork it often felt that headquarters insisted on forcing sometimes futile efforts for the sake of maintaining consistency although we clearly had serious difficulties doing things that way based on ecological differences across the country.