Pros
- No bothersome Managed Service clients, it is all straight hourly billing with a retainer. - You have a static schedule, and know where you will be at what time for the most part. - Work with experts in the field - Innovative solutions - Opportunities to work with shiny new technology. - Generally you can just work your solid 40 hours. - People are nice - Company has done an exemplary job of appearing very professional - Internal ops departments (HR, Procurement, etc) are fast, nice, approachable, and keep their word. - Excellent espresso machine, beef jerky, and coffee beans in the office. - Nice open plan office, free lunch across the street. - Good Benefits and perks (Free Costco, AAA, Amazon Prime, Kaiser HMO, $500 for internet, $1600 technology stipend) - Once every ~3 months on-call rotation. - Most clients are Finance companies or Startups, which are full of smart people who are easy to work with, and have lots of money to fix problems. - Some cool or 'sexy' clients I won't name for professional reasons. - Everything is run best-practice and squeeky-clean so you can learn a lot and nothing is going to break because of some patch-work solution. - They do great documentation here. The best I have seen.
Cons
- Almost no time will be spent in the office. - Mandatory monthly meeting held during evening hours and unpaid. You do get fed, however. - 10 out of 30 people (most of the most senior employees) have left the company since April. - You need to be on-line 24/7. - Upper management will try to nickel, dime, and generally take advantage of you if you let them. - You are paid out a $5000 / year vehicle stipend, you are not reimbursed per mile. - A lot of clients are outside the city around the Bay Area, so depending on where you get put, you might have to do a lot of driving. - Some clients are not great and have small boring networks and a crappy office in the boondocks. Not really their fault, but just a reality of consulting. - Strict neat business casual dress code. No jeans permitted unless you're racking, cabling, or moving. - Upper management can be very unpredictable in client meetings and dealings. They want to be involved, but sometimes should take a step back. - Overtime? What's that? If you work on the weekends you will be billing clients, but you will receive nothing yourself.