Pros
Ultra High-tech firm with access to cutting edge technologies. Health benefits exceeded the industry standard. I never paid anything except a small co-pay, even for major surgery. Absolutely amazing colleagues. Some of the brightest minds in the world work there.
Cons
What you’re hired at was about as good as it gets. The company would consistently hire very senior level people, at very competitive salaries, and then assign them a title that would limit their potential for receiving any significant form of raise. Most often the salary increases wouldn’t even cover increases in cost of living (not good for a long term career). Often when referring people into he company we would inform them to only accept a position if the company agreed to change the title to a higher level, thus forcing them to be hired at the bottom of the salary range with room for salary increases. The Information Technology teams were re-organized SIX TIMES from the beginning of 2010 to the latter half of 2012. By the end the staff was “siloed” into groups based on very specific functions, and none of these groups communicated well. This made it impossible to complete any project. By the end of this time it was common to say “If you don’t like what you’re doing, just wait two months”. If you are not located in Austin, TX then you will often get overlooked (referred to internally as “Good ole Boy Syndrome”) There is a major lack of focus from upper management (Director up), and middle management is horribly overworked (promotion to management was considered a death sentence).