Pros
I have to start off by saying that this was a very enjoyable company to a work for. The work assignments are very diverse, which makes it stimulating and challenging. You rarely will be doing the same task over and over again to a point where you become bored and disinterested. I've always enjoyed working in the environmental field, so I cannot think of any complaints regarding the projects you are given. There is also opportunity to grow in this company, but remember you have to put in your time and earn it. Nothing in life is ever given to you. The people you meet and work with are wonderful, both field team members and project managers alike. There will always be an occasional conflict with another associate, but in the long run, it was a pleasure to meet and work with the people at Aerostar. I will miss them. As far as pay and compensation goes, what the company offers seemed more than fair to me. Especially when traveling out of town, the per Diem rates are outstanding. From my experience, Aersostar does appear to take good care of their field workers. This is in comparison to other companies I've worked at in the past, who don't come close to providing the same type of travel compensation.
Cons
Just like another poster has stated, positive feedback and praise is rarely given. Management does seem to focus more on the negative. This I can understand because the project managers are under a lot of pressure to keep their clients happy, and any sort of slip-up can possibly break any future business. However, I do feel that project managers need to do better at factoring the positive benefits of an employee's performance. Only focusing on the negative gives an unfair evaluation of an employee and thus hinder their chances of moving up in the company. I would be lying if I said that every employee was enjoyable to work with. There are a few who do have hostile attitudes. My own supervisor being one of them. Our working relationship did not start on a sour note, it was actually great working with this person in the beginning. However, as time progressed I started to notice more and more of a negative attitude my supervisor expressed. I can understand that a person will be upset when you make a mistake, however there needs to be a time that you need to get over it and move on, instead of holding a grudge. My supervisor would be spiteful at times and also showed favoritism to other employees. There were occasions that I was too nervous to ask them a question because I would not know how they would react. This person would be very helpful to one employee, but would talk down to me and treat me like an idiot when I needed. It would get extremely stressful working with this individual at times. There were moments I felt that no matter how hard I worked and how much I helped out to finish projects, it was never enough. Being treated like this can really make you feel unappreciated and depressed. This last con isn't just to Aerostar but to all consulting firms. The consulting business is highly VOLATILE. There can be one month where you are working non-stop, and then the next month you have nothing on your schedule. This unfortunately lead to the end of my time at Aerostar. You can never predict when you might be let go, but when happens it comes as a major surprise. I will admit it felt personal to be let go, but you can't look at it that way. When it comes to consulting firms it's all about the bottom line, so in the end they will have to do what's best for the company to stay profitable. I respected this for what it is, and I understand why they let me go (at least I hope I do, lol) . I will also say that if they ever ask for me to come back, I would return in a heartbeat.