Vantaggi
This is a unique industry in that new things happen ALL the time with unique feats of engineering, chemistry etc... It's a great place to start to learn as every project will bring something new to the table. Looking on the half full side of the cup, the stingy company practices really makes you emphasize and think about financial decisions which could really come in handy in the future.
Svantaggi
Things are always pushed by management while leaving key stakeholders out of the question until last minute which in turn leads to unsafe practices and huge amounts of finger pointing. This has happened numerous times which is disgusting. Since the aquisition, new management has come and gone, and every time somebody wants to do something different in terms of software, paperwork etc.. leading to constant confusion and never really know what's going to happen next. People were leaving left and right when I left, the engineering department was 15+ strong when I first started and after leaving, it was left with 5. This is NOT unique to engineering. There is little drive to stay in the company.