Pros
1. Staff: a lot of young, energetic people to work with. 2. Product: sell/support the most popular software used throughout the AEC industry Out of all the Autodesk resellers in the US, Microdesk is one of the best because of its employees. Technical consultants are talented, knowledgable, and collaborative. The sales team is friendly, and works hard to meet their numbers. Many (including me) find there great camaraderie among the sales and technical staff, although this isn't the case in all of Microdesk's offices. There's also a lot of opportunity to travel, which is something most consultants (most former architects and engineers) did little of before joining Microdesk.
Cons
- Poor communication from senior staff, and among senior staff - Burnout: aggressive travel and hours can be a grind. The management team is relatively inexperienced. It understands the need to communicate, and has invested in tools and programs to improve communcation, but they fail develop meaningful information to the entire staff. In the end, there's a lot of cheerleading-talk: vague ideas without clear and specific messages. As a result, it can feel like a disorganized and chaotic place to a newcomer. Recent layoffs (more than 20 employees were let go between September and December 2008) reduced the workforce from 120+ people to just under 80. My sense is that this has created more stress and uncertainty for those still working there.