Pros
PAY – Amazing pay, annual bonuses are a massive boost to your pay and really make you feel appreciated for your hard work. CULTURE - Second to none. It’s literally shocking how many people here genuinely care about everyone else and are just all-around good people. The culture of kindness is very real and very important to everyone here. ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES – Lots of room to grow with the company, trainings to help advance you, and mentorship opportunities are absolutely there, and you can really have a full career here. TRAINING – You are not just thrown to the wolves here. You get at least five weeks of training and stabilization as a new employee and people are always available to assist as you keep learning. LEADERSHIP – Leaders get actual leadership training to teach them effective leadership skills and the importance of not micromanaging employees. Leaders get actual leadership training for effective team management, and micromanaging of employees is not something that is promoted or praised here. WORK/LIFE BALANCE – Actually exists! We are big on families here, and know that you can do your best work if you and your family are supported BENEFITS – Our benefits and insurance are amazing! We’re one of the few companies that still offers a 100% employer paid plan (also have the option to upgrade to a PPO), our additional benefits are banging, and our parental leave policy is LEGIT! A company’s parental leave policy is a very quick way to gauge a company and how they treat their employees. So ours being so amazing says a LOT.
Cons
CHANGES – A lot of changes have been made recently due to continued growth and recent sale of the company. So that can make things feel a little uncertain since it’s a new venture. But we are continuing to grow and hiring more, so that shows we are still doing great and going strong. INSURANCE CHANGING – We were recently notified that we are switching from our beloved plan we've had for years to another company for 2026 so that has been a little nerve wracking with the unknowns there. We were told that the reason for the switch was to be able to continue to offer a 100% employer paid plan for everyone. I am going to remain cautiously optimistic, because changing from an amazing plan to a junk plan would cause so many people to quit, that I don’t think they would be that foolish. MERIT INCREASES – This comes with a caveat. Our annual merit increases were lowered quite a bit compared to where they have been historically. HOWEVER; we are no longer a startup company for where those larger annual raises are needed. And what they were changed to are still significantly larger than you will find just about anywhere else. Our new increase for a meets expectations is higher than anywhere else that I have worked for a significantly exceeds expectations. So I can see why some people were upset about the change. But the change was not unreasonable and we are still getting a higher annual than other places. *** I also want to add: No company is perfect, and I will never pretend that Shields is either. However, I am the happiest I have ever been in my career here, and the pros significantly outweigh any of the cons. My life has literally changed for the better in so many ways because of Shields and all of the opportunities that they have given me, and I will forever be grateful for them for that.
