Pros
- Unlimited certification reimbursement - Great teams to work on, exposure to several different aspects of enterprise environments - Experienced and fun coworkers make the work day bearable - Flexible work schedule hard to match at other companies (one extra day off every pay period) - Telework days for certain positions - One fully paid training session per year - Semi-annual raises, along with a once a year bonus
Cons
- A monthly staff meeting that gives information better summarized in an e-mail/on a website. For those who don't work near the staff meeting location, driving to downtown Bethesda during rush hour is a real hassle. Also, the staff meeting is generally dominated by activities/speeches/etc that contribute nothing to the overall experience. - Senior management is ambiguous about expectations in regards to 'community service.' In the past, the company offered a bonus that would be paid out depending on your level of participation in the community service activities. Since this has gone away, you don't technically have to participate, but you're still rated on your level of participation at the end of the year. Senior management will look down on anyone who doesn't attend _every single event_ and your rating at the end of the year will change accordingly. The rumor is that this rating will affect how much you're paid out "when the company is sold," but this could simply be a way to keep people participating in events when they'd rather spend their weekends with family/friends/etc. - Inter-office politics more closely resemble high school cliques than a professional organization. Favoritism runs rampant, and this especially reflects in the relationship escalation point teams have with lower level technicians. While some technicians are treated with respect and given a certain level of trust regardless of their actions, others are constantly and openly disparged and made to feel inferior, even though they're simply trying to learn and get the job done. - Management promotions are made based on who is next in line. Never once during my time at TerpSys did a management position get posted and have interviews. New managers were simply announced and the promotions took place without even the fascade of a competitive process. This led to people who were management material being overlooked, while leading to the promotion of the less qualified simply because of tenure or reputation among existing managers. - Secrets are very big at TerpSys. When someone leaves, when someone is promoted, or when anything substantial happens, only the selected inner circle are told. Regardless of how miniscule something is, people are expected to keep secrets until management deems it fit for release to the outer circle plebians. Inevitably, the information will be spread before the official annoucement, but why the secrecy?