As a technical person in a sea of non-technical people, you tend to be marginalized a bit. Most major IT decisions seem to be made without consulting key technical staff, resulting in botched implementations and lots of finger-pointing after the fact. Compensation has historically been below industry averages but this is slowly improving, though you still will most likely end up taking the you experience gained at Maxim to make more money elsewhere.
Health care benefits used to be great, but have become worse over the years, shifting more of the cost to the employee despite the fact that the company continues to perform well financially. Upper management refuses to allow flex time or at-home working hours for technical people that don't really need to be on site 100% of the time. This is exacerbated by the fact that the office is located in a town with a very high cost of living, and because pay at Maxim is below average, most employees cannot afford to live nearby and need to commute long distances.
Turnover is very high at Maxim as a whole, and the IT department is no exception. Maxim's MO has always been to hire younger workers at salaries below industry averages and put them through the wringer. You'll work hard and gain a lot of experience that you can parlay into a much more lucrative job, but it won't feel particularly fun or rewarding while you're there. Focusing on the long-term and not allowing yourself to fall into a rut is the key to surviving at Maxim. Don't go more than a year or so without taking on new roles and/or responsibilities.
