Vantaggi
Money... And good money if you are in the right place for doing very little work. Paid training. Also has benefits from day one and a descent pension program. Company stock options are also available and they give some encouragement to use it. I'd give Compensation and Benefits a 5 if the benefits were a little better. It's one of the best paying jobs you can get if you have no other responsibilities and don't have higher education. Once you have seniority you are set, you can bid any job, anywhere in Western Canada. You can decide if you want a predictable schedule, $$$, or something in between.
Svantaggi
Very unpredictable. Management often can't tell you what's happening because they don't know either. Expectations and options change week to week and you have only a day or two notice. Absolutely no work/life balance. Some jobs have a schedule. Mine didn't and many have you on call 24/7/365 Currently does not conform to work/rest recommendations so sleep deprivation and disruption are considered entirely normal. I was force to quit sooner than I planned because the irregular/interrupted sleep was aggravating a heart condition. Company owns you, but doesn't care about you. (don't plan on being there for your daughter's birthday, your sister's wedding or your cousin's funeral)(One employee that had been there for years and beyond reproach couldn't get time off to take care of his wife after her surgery, it was not an emergency because it was "scheduled") Training is rushed and inadequate. The training process is unfocused so some people wind up seeing a lot during training and are ready to work at the end while others have seen very little and are not even close to prepared. The company also sees no problem with training you in one thing and then sending you to work on something entirely different because "everything is in the rule book." Little job security early on. The company likes to binge hire, then lay off when it slows down. They also will force you to go anywhere in western Canada while your seniority is low. (Don't believe the recruiters when they say otherwise.)
