Pros
-Clients range from interesting to awesome, and you feel like you are really helping them help others
-You work on a diversity of projects so it's a good resume builder and you learn a lot
-Junior staff are consistently smart and interesting people; you enjoy working with your peers
Cons
-Most importantly, no one on senior staff has ever had management training. The result is you work under people who are smart but don't know how to appropriately manage, or invest in employees to encourage growth and higher performance. (Kind of like when your science professor is brilliant but can't teach). On good days, you'll have generally positive experiences with them-- they're not evil people. But on many days your experiences will range from unprofessional to passive aggressive to verbally abusive. I was not the only one who felt the experience ended up being, on the whole, toxic. Their very high turnover rate reflects that.
-Office culture is typically described as cold, with people being discouraged to talk to each other.
-They don't advertise this, but they actually write into about half their contracts that clients legally cannot hire Fairmount employees for a full year after the project. So it's a little harder to break into the Philly nonprofit scene coming from Fairmount than you might think.
-Pay is very low, even compared to local nonprofits. Associates get paid less than a living wage in Philadelphia (low thirties). Project Managers make low forties.
-They have no formal system for promotions, raises, or bonuses. So there is inconsistency and it seems to be largely based on favoritism.
-Bonuses and 401K do not kick in until after a full 12+ months.