Pros
- Excellent opportunities for ownership and personal / career growth - Small enough that everybody can make a significant impact on customers - Big enough that I don't worry about my paycheck bouncing - Excellent work / life balance (on my team at least)
Cons
compensation is always changing and nobody knows what to expect. the minute you think you know what to expect, something changes or an excuse is made that changes things. it's not just ics either. managers often don't know what to expect going into raises / refreshes and they're just as surprised as their direct reports. managers can tell you what the 'midpoint' is for your role / level / location, but this is hardly a 'midpoint' and more of a 'endgame pay right before you're ready to be promoted out of current level'. good luck getting accurate pay expectations from coworkers as well. it's not uncommon for somebody to get a promotion to a new level and with it get a raise / stock grant, then somebody get the exact same promotion 6 months later and end up with significantly less, then somebody else get the exact same promotion yet another 6 months later and end up with more. (btw you'd think that the middle guy would be 'caught up' to the third one, but i've seen examples that show that's not how it works either). basically, the best way to get a great comp package is to get promoted at the "right" time, and nobody knows when is a good time or bad time until the review cycle is already over. i feel like i live in a perpetual cycle thinking that i'm 6 months to a year away from a great raise and i never arrive; it's just dangling 6 months to a year out forever.
