Pros
By and large, the people are wonderful. Most everyone is always willing to help. My coworkers were bright, interesting people who you could always look forward to grabbing a drink with. The nature of the work definitely goes in the pro column. Developing QCs is about as motivating as you can get, intellectually.
Cons
The work culture can be extremely demanding. Many 60 hour weeks, 6 days in a row, sometimes for a few months at a time. While I was there, I repeatedly pushed off vacation to hit a deadline during "crunch time"...the thing is, these deadlines often seemed quite arbitrary, set by people at the top levels who don't understand the work and often crunch time seemed to never end. Given the qualifications necessary to land the position, the compensation seemed quite low. I'd wager at the level I was at, I could easily have made 50% more to work at a different firm (in a different industry). I'm glad I worked at IonQ because of the doors it opened for me, but I was also very happy to leave. Additionally, the equity associated with my position and the recognition I received, even when I contributed significantly to the development of systems, felt very at odds with the amount of commitment expected. Exacerbating this, many commitments regarding professional and personal development never materialized or were flat out walked back. I'd ask again and again. This made me feel misled.
