Pros
Interesting and challenging work, good people, working on boats, working with state-of-the-art equipment, travel, good pay, great health care benefits, generous vacation and sick time allowance, generous 401k company match and profit-sharing contribution. The company isn’t stingy about hours or expenses. You always get paid for the field hours that you work (with field premium on top) and you get to stay in good hotels and eat at good restaurants while you are on travel. The job was advertised as “a mix of field and office assignments with travel assignments of periods from one day to several weeks “. This mix of travel is what I experienced. Whenever they could, management gave me a heads up about upcoming travel so I could get my home life in order before my departure. During the lengthy interview process, management made it clear what was required of a field tech. I was told that when the company had work then I needed to be available (unless I had scheduled vacation). Management went out of their way to make my scheduled vacation time work for me including flying me in and out of jobs (with pay) to meet my vacation schedule. During slow times I was able to work 40-hour weeks to meet my salary (or take time off). One of the things that I really liked was the autonomy that I had when I went out to run a field survey (after I had been trained). The company spent a lot of time training me (from no experience) how to run the equipment and software and boats. Yes, there was some micromanaging when I was being trained but once I showed that I was responsible and cared about producing a good survey the company pretty much let me run the surveys and provided support when I needed help. Management frequently used the term “two-way street” when we talked about workload (when we were busy) versus the generous pay/benefits/time off. I always felt like the company followed through on their commitment to make it a “two-way street”. I was happy with the raises that I got over the years. The company wanted me to succeed. I left the company to follow my wife in her more lucrative career. Otherwise, I would still be working at OSI.
Cons
Some long field assignments. Some outside winter work. Not always knowing if your next weekend is going to be free.