Tech Version of Used Car Salesman - Sr. Software Engineer Software Technology Group (OR) Employee Review

* Fantastic variety Everything from application development to robotics and propulsion work. STG has a niche with custom mechanical, electrical, and software projects. You rarely see this kind of overlap outside of pure R&D. Huge variety of projects to work on. You'll never be bored working here. * Experienced team Highly experienced staff. Every single engineer knew their job and did it well. * Focus on personal development Management takes an interest in the personal well being and development of the team. The company genuinely cares that their employees are happy. Some incentives were also provided for continuing training and certification. * Technical management Company is managed by engineers who will fully understand your needs and current status. No pointy haired boss. * Very "Portland" kind of company No Kafkaesque bureaucracy. No brick and mortar prison. Just engineers enjoying what they do for a living. The staff was genuinely interested in the creative process and helping other people. Very high quality of life. * Why did you want to be an engineer anyway? Did 12 year old you really expect to be hiding in a cubical and praying for the sweet release of death? No, we accepted a life of social ostracization because engineering is awesome. Engineering put men on the moon. But the nature of this industry is that we don't always get to pick our projects and life becomes routine. STG was the first time in years that I felt reminded as to why I became an engineer in the first place. The personality of the team and the wide variety of projects get you excited to be in this industry. Perfect fit for those of us who love what we do.

Not really "cons" but some caveats for different personality types: Technical work itself is by no means "easy". Engineers are expected to be individually motivated. Moving between projects may mean needing to learn and adapt quickly. Some personalities will not be suited to this. Best fit for technically experienced and highly motivated people.

As a contracting company, this company gets lots of different projects to work on over time - so there's almost always something to do, and rarely is there boredom. It's a great way to learn a lot of different things. There are even occasionally some projects that can call for some electronics/hardware work, in addition to software work. This is also a small company and doesn't have all the corporate red tape that bigger companies have.

The amount of work can be up and down. Most recently (before I left), it seemed projects coming in had slowed down quite a bit though, and I hadn't heard about many new projects coming in. If you're thinking about career advancement, such as moving to team/group management, it seems that there isn't much chance for that here.