Pros
Company has a strong market presence due to its scale. Bradenton / Montreal - both very nice cities. Plant locations are generally in second tier cities. Usually very nice, especially for those who have ties to the area. Like many such places, they may not be a draw for those from other areas.
Cons
Many, many years of weak management have left the company with debt. There are lots of plant locations, many non-performing business units. There are opportunties for "financial engineering" - i.e. watch out. The Yull family and their personal friends continue to benefit in ways that would not happen in a truly public company. IPG is sort of half way in between. The company has a poorly defined competitive strategy - thus it is difficult to say what skills and capabilities will be valued and which business groups will be retained. Management needs a lot of work. Generally well-meaning people, but the breadth of experience and professional competency is not what one would expect. IPG is Still caught in a 25 year old mindset of selling to distributors. IPG has a reputation as "Call IPG for 10% less",,, The company is generally not prepared to invest in new initiatives. A $50k program will require an executive team meeting and several months of time. But a $500k sales meeting for IPG sales people (employees) is an "indispensible expense" - again, an indicator of a 25 year old "Rah-Rah" type of sales mentality...each meeting is like a high school prom with a theme, nifty gifts labeled with the name of the lastest sales incentive program. Not much in the way of understanding customer's, engineering needs, product attributes, business objectives, etc. IPG is a good company, and one you should not hesitate to join as long as you can weather having things go south - if they do. There is company level risk. And rarely a week goes by that a memo does not circulate that says "Mr./Ms.___ is no longer here" So...a solid opportunity if you are local.