Brilliant people, interesting problems
Pros
You should work at Cycorp if: * You like being around smart people of all stripes. Cycorp's employees are philosophers, linguists, programmers, scientists, and all-around fascinating people. Working here feels a lot like going to college. You get into great lunch discussions. * If you enjoy unusual, challenging problems. Cyc is by great lengths the most ambitious and complicated piece of software I've worked on. If replicating the process of human logical reasoning in a computer sounds like an interesting task to you, you should apply.
Cons
You should not work at Cycorp if: * You want to work with the latest, trendiest technology. Cyc is written in a proprietary LISP dialect, so you will spend a lot of time learning a language you won't be able to use anywhere else. I personally don't see this as a big problem--working on Cyc is a masterclass in data structures and algorithm analysis, and those fundamental skills will serve you far better in the long run than specialization in a particular language. Nevertheless, fair warning. * If you have a low tolerance for chaos. Cycorp began as a research company and is still light on product management. As a programmer, you will be expected to handle bugs and feature requests from different projects, budget your own time, and determine your own priorities. If you enjoy a high degree of freedom in your work you might actually see this as a blessing; but if you have trouble self-organizing you may feel overwhelmed.