Pros
Most employees are young and fun to be around. The social environment is great, and most employees I know feel a real sense of team comradery. The recruiting function seems to do a great job of finding motivated folks who like to do their jobs well right out of school and learn quickly. The organizational structure is pretty flat (few levels of management) so most employees have autonomy to make decisions within their roles and teams. This also means that loud voices or long-time employees with loud voices can sometimes be the impetus for organizational change in the wrong direction. NI sells a lot of different products and solutions which means that employees have an opportunity to work on a lot of different projects and serve different audiences. This also means that the company changes organizational structure and focus often.
Cons
Benefits are woefully out of wack in the 3 and 10-year career range. My compensation and benefits are significantly less than my peers who work elsewhere. The company's products and customers are very technical, so folks who have engineering educations often end up doing most business functions (marketing, sales, etc.) at the top, middle, and bottom levels, which can sometimes lead to a lack of both diversity in thought process and demographics. The organizational structure is pretty flat (few levels of management) so most employees have autonomy to make decisions within their roles and teams. This also means that loud voices or long-time employees with loud voices can sometimes be the impetus for organizational change in the wrong direction. NI sells a lot of different products and solutions which means that employees have an opportunity to work on a lot of different projects and serve different audiences. This also means that the company changes organizational structure and focus often. I have had 4 different roles and 6 different managers in 5 years.