Pros
It looks like there are a few misleading negative reviews. I want to address some of these things quick.
Fast requires 24/7 overtime all the time.
-False. While overtime does ramp up as rollout approaches, the amount of overtime depends on your roll with the project. Additionally, if you stay on task and on top of your work, the amount of overtime will only be 5 to 10 hours a week. Additionally, overtime is paid out based on your salary divided by 52 divided by 40 for an hourly rate, something many companies do not do. You may be asked to pitch in for other areas and teams to try and spread the overtime across the entire team so as to keep people from burn out.
Fast gives little to no notice of moving.
-Half-True. I personally was caught up in some power games recently and my family and I were moved back and forth with very little notice. This is a rarity! Most people have at least a few weeks. And it is a communicated requirement of Fast before you sign up with the company that relocation is an expectation. They have recently provided a way out of having to relocate. They split the salary in 2 components, one for a "normal" salary and another for "assignability". If you flat out refuse to move after given a choice of a few options, you lose the assignability component of your salary. This gives the emloyee the freedom to not move without the fear of being fired, assuming the current site has work to do.
Fast provides no 401(k) match.
-True. This is because they do profit sharing, averaging about 3% across the company every year. Most companies only offer a 3% match. For my personal salary, this is about equavilent to how much I get from profit sharing, so it is a wash. It's also not dependent on my own contributions, so the first few years I wasn't contributing and got the profit sharing money anyway. Definitely BETTER in my opinion.
There is no career development at Fast
-False. While Fast has a very flat management style, you will find that if you put in hard work right after you start, the team lead position is right around the corner. More hard work to make yourself known and putting your foot out there, and you may get your name on an actual contract. From there, there's the site architect role which is the lead of the leads. Then Project Manager, associate partner, and maybe even partner some day. There are lots of opportunities to rise through the ranks with hard work and dedication to the products we build.
Let's take a look at the pay and benefits component of Fast. The pay is competitive with other companies in the same field. The benefits are well beyond that of other companies. We have great health, dental, eye, short-term disability, long-term disability, AND $100,000 of life insurance, without having to pay a dime in premiums ourselves. This alone raises our salaries substantially over other companies.
Overall, everyone has a different experience with this company, mainly because the company of 300+ people is spread out into teams of 15 to 30 people across the US and even the world. One site is different from another, each project manager has different pros and cons, and each client has it's one strengths and weaknesses.
The position is an implementation consultant, so you can expect to consult half the time and develop half the time. Sometimes this means that 8 hours of the day is consulting in meetings and then staying let developing the results of those meetings.
Your experience at Fast is what you make it. It's definitely not for everyone but overall, they try as best as they can to treat their employees with respect and communicate when needed (sometimes there is confidentiality issues since we work with government which is why not everything can get communicated).
Cons
See explanation above and decide for yourself if it is a pro or a con. This is a specialized company with a high reputation for quality software that is always delivered on time and under budget. That of course requires lots of hard work
