Pros
Good pay, especially out of school. Benefits are decent, but pretty average, and same with retirement matching. If you don't care about working a boring job in exchange for decent pay (and if you can find enough time outside of work to do the things you actually love), then this would be a good fit for you.
Cons
- The job description before you are hired is extremely misleading. I don't like seeing FAST actively posting positions for "software engineers" on LinkedIn. Implementation consultants are NOT engineers. It would be wise of FAST to note, that in Canada specifically, "engineer" is a protected title and unlike the US, you can't just call someone an engineer because you feel like it. - You are sold this idea of being a developer working for this exciting consulting company, but you don't develop your skills in either area. - The code is proprietary and you're forced to adhere to FAST's way of doing things - you can't even experiment with different ways of coding your solutions. - You don't get to develop your consulting skills all that well either. At most consulting firms you're juggling multiple clients at once, or at least multiple projects within a year. At FAST you will be working with the same people on a site for as long as you're there, and if you aren't a team lead, don't expect to be given much responsibility when it comes to communicating with the client. - As many other people have mentioned, FAST had a very generous WFH policy at the start of the pandemic which they have been slowly clawing back. Even if your client is only in the office 2 days a week, you're still expected to show up 4 days a week (won't be long until it's 5). - This is heavily dependent on site, but generally work-life balance is not good. They would rather understaff locations to save money, forcing people who have been around for a while to work overtime to meet deadlines. - They don't want people to be too comfortable. They would rather force someone to move sites every 2-3 years, even if they have valuable knowledge for a site that they are at, in favour of bringing in new people. - In 2023, almost 50% of the company's workforce at that had been hired in the last year (as shared at AGM). The total number of employees had only risen by 300-400 people. At 2000 employees, let that retention rate sink in for you. - General weird company culture vibes. They really want you to "buy-in" to FAST and AGMs have a bit of a weird vibe because of this. It's okay for work to just be work, and to find your value in life outside of your job.
