You could end up staying a long time - Recensione dipendente - Programmer presso Information Management Services

Work is interesting and company fully embraces work/life balance

Pay is middle-tier for the area

Atmosphere is informal. Projects are often gov't contracts that get extended or delayed for reasons outside the company's control. Most people get put on multiple projects. This is good -- it enables you to learn from a variety of situations. It's sort of against company culture to directly pressure you. You won't be forced to work a certain way as long as you can juggle your tasks at the slow & steady pace that's expected of you. We develop primarily on Windows, which can be awkward compared to Unix-like systems, but we do keep up with developments in software. We don't develop in a cave.

Going hand-in-hand with that atmosphere, management style is passive and laissez faire. This is a double-edged sword. If you get on a project with management that's interested in what you're doing, the job can be fun and educational. If not, you can waste a lot of time and be quite lonely. Oftentimes I'm told that things will be happening 'very soon' and then wait months before work begins. I've never had an in-person code review. Some of my tasks are reviewed more thoroughly than others. Some of it is barely looked at. Again, this varies by whom I work with; some teams are quite good about feedback. The pay is relatively low. They're honest about this up front.