Vantaggi
Typical regulatory organization with thin veneer of power and prestige. All architects have to be licensed and so at least at one time in each of their careers, they must pay homage to NCARB.
Svantaggi
(1) Supervisor got unbridled power to put tight and unreasonable restraints on me so she could bully me and force me out and hire a friend of hers from another department. I was placed under a gag order--told to not talk to anybody inside or outside the company without strict permission requirements, even though I was a senior writer hired and paid to talk to people. I had 3 supervisors in the space of 10 months, with the last supervisor being the woman brought into our department finally and whom the supervisor wanted to give my job to. Continued purposeful communication with the HR department did no good as I was reminded time and time again that it was I who was an unfit employee, despite my earnest attempts to meet new and growing demands--the department head was in no wrong for the gag order, etc. After my termination, the organization had to admit not once but twice that I was not fired "for cause" (or due to any infraction or misbehavior or poor performance), but because it "wasn't a bad fit." This was admitted to both the Washington D.C. and the State of Virginia employment commissions. (2) The organization has done what any regulatory organization does and has taken the basic career prep time for a professional and turned it into a long and arduous journey with much unnecessary oversight, cost and regulation.