Decent pay for a 40hr week, if that's all you are able to get away with.
Pros
Reasonable pay if you can manage to only work 40 hours a week Benefits are outstanding if you have a family or medical condition There is a wealth of knowledge and training is pretty decent Coworkers are friendly and generally good teamwork occurs
Cons
Gosh, it is a bit difficult to chose an area to start here... First, engineering department turnover is attrocious. On average 20% of the department turns over every year. Sometimes more specialized groups turnover 50% plus within a year, as is my case. If you work at one of the nuclear sites, I hope you like the area you are around otherwise you have a long commute, 45 minutes+ to live anywhere close to a civilization with amenities. Be prepared to find out that your corporate counterparts make just as much as you, have an easier job and are able to live within a reasonable city. Hard work and actual innovation goes relatively unnoticed and unappreciated. You may be able to save the company hundreds of thousands but do not expect a promotion from such efforts. Discussing your pay with your peers within the industry is a mistake, as you will quickly learn that of the nuclear utilities, SNC pays the lowest salaries to their engineers in the ENTIRE country. Long hours are expected and necessary just to stay in control of the raging fire. Lastly, the medical benefits are essentially lost on me, as I rarely go to the doctor and do not have any prescriptions - I'd rather have an augmentation to my paycheck than knowing that I could go to the emergency room for free if I needed.
