Vantaggi
The work at Ascend is purposeful - creating assessments and education technology solutions that help students change their lives. There are loads of really smart and caring people working at Ascend. I made some good friends while working there. There is significant flexibility in time off, working at home, and the like.
Svantaggi
Senior Leadership is constantly engaging in political infighting and jockeying, to the detriment of clients. Poor management behavior tolerated (lying to subordinates, micromanaging, controlling, discrimination, etc.) . HR is complicit in these poor behaviors. If you raise concerns you will be viewed as a troublemaker, no matter how tactfully you raise them, because of politics and leaders more concerned about being liked than being effective. Ascend bills itself as an Agile shop, but it is very dysfunctional from an Agile development perspective. There is perhaps one senior leader who understands Agile. All the people who get it are at a lower level in the organization that isn't listened to. Classic example of "we are agile because we have standups" when really they are doing waterfall.