Strong Pros and Cons Average Out to Mediocre
Pros
The pay is a little above market value. Excellent benefits. Excellent soft skills training is available to employees. This IT shop is very well-funded. You will work with the very best technology available to private enterprise. Work here for a few years and you will be more marketable. Beautiful office environment. Very high quality people everywhere.
Cons
Wellington treats IT talent like a formula one racing team treats tires - they only want the good ones, but burning them out is part of the game plan. Hours can be extreme and you will need to sacrifice many weekends. Hour-for-hour, the pay is only mediocre. Visibility in the office is necessary to advance, regardless of off hours on-call and "follow the sun" responsibilities. Employees are underpaid until they receive their annual bonus, which can lead to greedy and fearful behavior. The "Client Focus" cultural value means that intra-team trust and relationships are sometimes dodgy. There is little incentive for colleagues to stand up for each other. The "Client, Firm, Self" cultural value means that your family and marriage can be a liability. Without a strong team or regular contact with your family, the life of a Wellington employee can be lonely. If you decide to work here, negotiate aggressively for a high base before you sign. The base only increases slowly over time, and everything else like vacation, bonus, etc. can be taken away from you. Be willing to walk away from a good offer because you will need an excellent offer to make it worth your while.
