Vantaggi
My experience at VIP let me see the workings of a company that worked hard to reward and keep top performers and offer a career path through continued growth. The focus is often on growth because that is where the opportunities for employees are created. We all want to see a raise every year, but it is new clients and new projects at the existing ones that make that happen. VIP did a great job creating partnerships with other companies that created big opportunities for new and existing employees. While I was there the company also invested heavily in sales, marketing and proposal writing to spur growth. - Salaries, benefits and HR policies are competitive to other IT consulting firms - The company's size means that senior management knows about every project so everyone can get attention when they need it. - Continued focus on growth creates new opportunities for staff - Very high client loyalty and long term projects - Consistent engagement to keep field employees up to date on the company's status - Strong methodologies and adoption of industry standards for project management and in other technical areas. - Consistent investments in growing the company through marketing, sales and partnerships with industry leaders. - Meridian LMS is a terrific product that helps introduce new clients to VIP as well. - Recent roll out of learning management internally to improve employee engagement and offer training that will help advance careers.
Svantaggi
None that don't exist in other similar firms. I've seen complaints that not enough bonus money is paid and that raises aren't consistent enough - but I think those are largely unfair. - VIP has many long term contracts with fixed rates and staff must understand that staying on static projects with no growth or new work don't provide much opportunity for advancement. VIP works to help staff grow accounts to create more opportunity. - Bonuses are based on company performance, and less on personal performance. This is standard for IT firms like VIP. At a prior job I once didn't get a bonus because someone on a project 500 miles away left a laptop in a bar with hundreds of thousands of client SSNs on it. It felt like I was getting ripped off because my project was great, but that mistake cost the company millions to make right and there just wasn't much profit to share. - Short bench time is very standard now. Like anywhere, consultants have a responsibility to work with their managers to understand their position's risks and growth opportunities and not just wait for the company get them new assignments.