Pros
• FEI is growing fast with increasing market share and lots of work available. • Staff-level management is supportive and listens to staff suggestions. • Friendly, welcoming environment of very smart, diverse people. You are assigned a mentor/buddy when on-boarding to answer your questions and provide you with resources. • Lots of employees with company experience and company product expertise. There are many staff members/managers with 5+ years with the company and a core group with 10+ years. • The work is interesting, and your work efforts are valued. • There is good communication across departments, with a strong HR presence. • There is work hour flexibility, but you need to work core hours. Under non-COVID conditions, the ability to work remotely is earned after a grace period and then in limited capacity. However, during COVID, most of the workforce is remote. The company's response to COVID has been fantastic and they have their employees safety in mind. Furloughs were limited even though some business opportunities were put on hold. • Quality of life is comparable with other IT software firms. • Salary is competitive with other for-profit software firms in the Columbia, MD area. • Medical benefits are competitive. • Leave time is based on a “one-size” fits all bucket that allows you to use leave time for vacation, personal days, sick days, etc. This is a “Pro” if you don’t get ill much or have a lot of medical appointments. If you get sick a lot, you won’t have much vacation time unless you make up the time on weekends, off hours, etc.
Cons
With great growth comes strains on management, especially at the mid-level. This results in management being stretched thin on the amount of projects they are involved in and being unable to spend time guiding staff with less experience/time with the company. Many mid-level managers who have been with the company, grown the products/services, and have expertise are double booked in meetings and aren’t available when needed by staff, which can cause problems. Many of these managers have rarely taken vacations and have accumulated so much leave that they are forced to take time off. It gives the impression that the only way to reach a management position is sacrificing quality of life and work/life balance. Annual paid leave is spartan with FEI, but comparable with for-profit companies starting out. However, it takes 4 years to accumulate more to make it comparable to the starting annual leave of a non-profit company under the “one-bucket” leave model. Also, amounts for annual paid leave CANNOT be negotiated for new hires. This means that senior staff getting hired from outside companies will *not* be able to recuperate any seniority for leave time they had accumulated with their prior company. I do not know if these rules apply to executive candidates.