* Company shutdowns are unpaid and fairly frequent—in the first 4 years, you will use almost all of your PTO (which is your sick leave, too) on shutdowns. You accrue 40hrs/yr more after 4 years—you might get a vacation then.
* This role is much more interesting to mechanics/electricians than it is to engineering graduates. They hire both types. The latter is their target demographic (for some reason?).
* You will use ~5-7% of your engineering degree. A big con if you liked engineering; a big pro if you 'wish' you liked engineering.
* Upper management are clueless, losing a dollar to save a dime—no, they will not listen to you no matter how much you and all of your coworkers warn them. And yes, they will blame you and your manager when they "do the dumb" anyways and things go exactly as bad as you said.
* Extremely tight deadlines and schedule conflicts between engineers and lab equipment engineers—expect to delay (sometimes miss!) your breaks and lunch hour routinely.
* Virtually zero upward career progression potential—you'll do the same thing at level 1 as at level 4 (even 5). You may branch to specialist or manager, but you'll not be promoted to an engineer, designer, modeler, QA, or anything else. What you do after year 1 is the same as year 20.
* Expect bruises and minor burns, be thankful that's all you're going home with.
