Great opportunity but not for everyone
Pros
- It's a great way to break into the industry for those who might not have gotten enough internship experience, if you have an Associate's degree, or if you trying to make a change of career. - If you do well a lot of people have their contracts bought out by the client after the first year and you can make dramatically more money. - Great culture of support and shared learning. You really do get out what you put in so don't expect to just fall into a role.
Cons
- You're locked into a 2 year contract where you would have to pay a penalty in order to break it. - The pay is fixed at (when I was there) 45k the first year and 60k the second year which increases a little if you are in a high cost of living area. - You can't decline a company if they select you after an interview even if there were several that selected you. You go with the first client that wants you. In my case, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. - If funding falls through on a client project or you're sent back for any reason, you end up back in staging to do more interviews and your pay drops back to how it was before being on client. Your time towards the 2 years also halts until you're back on a client project.
