Growing Company Gathering Its Legs
Pros
You will see projects from start to finish. Any free time you have can be spent on any side projects you imagine. New R&D group brings promise of more internal opportunities. Great working atmosphere; everyone is easy to get along with. How quickly you advance is up to your own initiative and eagerness to learn. Abundant travel opportunities, mostly national. Training within the automation team is well segmented and everyone is very happy to teach new employees. You will not be given a project you cannot handle. Ample support is given if timeline or objective changes. Management is actively undergoing training to improve their performance and become better leaders. Controls Engineers are in very high demand and the skills you develop are extremely valuable. Pay is very respectable for the entry-level positions. When you're in the office, the hours are flexible and accommodating to appointments/life schedule. You get 17 days of paid time-off at a minimum, which is excellent. Working from home is an option when necessary. Senior leadership is very approachable.
Cons
Team is short-staffed at the time of this review. Travel can exceed 50% (more than 26 weeks of the year). Management is aware this is unsustainable and is working to resolve. Projects are 90% packaging food and beverage, so little project variety. Projects are often delayed and site time extended due to no fault of yours or even anyone in Haskell. Customers are often unprepared to take on responsibility for the project just installed and lean on Haskell for extended periods. Performance reviews are infrequent (yearly). Retirement benefits (ESOP) are not competitive with a matching 401k. It takes at least 1.5 years before the company pays any amount into your retirement.
