Pros
After a long stretch on the vendor side with FMG, I am giving the client side a shot. I have fond memories of my time at FMG and have made some incredible long lasting friends and colleagues. We experienced a lot of growth during my tenure which always meant new challenges and opportunities, some frustrating, most exciting. But what I appreciated the most was the ability to influence new projects, clients, and services. The leadership there gets the delicate balance of keeping a highly skilled research workforce intrinsically motivated while still keeping the lights on. For me, this meant having the opportunity to develop new work that was aligned with some of my graduate school interests.
Cons
While its difficult to call this a con as I know loose and fast isn't a great model for federal research, the 'ol' days of managing a research budget seemed much easier.