Unless you believe you are absolutely qualified for the particular job opening at Plixer, don't apply here. You will be expected to perform 120% without error. If you F-up, don't be surprised if you're thrown under the bus or yelled at in front of the entire department. You will not get the respectful and understanding, "learn from your mistakes" encouragement. Plixer can have its fun and amusing moments, but you will have immense stress shadowing you.
It's fear that motivates you to put in more hours, work harder, skip lunches. There is some opportunity for advancement since I'm sure Plixer will continue to become bigger and more successful. The non-competitive pay and high level of stress is not worth it if you're looking for a stepping stone as a learning environment as you will not be learning anything to become more specialized in a given field anyway.
Management does reward success and hard work every once in a while with beers on Fridays or paid unlimited bar tabs after work (no complaints there), but it's a feeble compensation compared to what everyone actually needs like bonuses etc.
