Pros
- Able to interact directly with government agency/university academia etc. for projects - Relatively standardised work for each project
Cons
- The company's staff centres on a "core" of experienced staff that are in practice a social clique. If one is unable to integrate into the "core", it may be difficult to progress long-term - Company leadership is not conducive to ideas such as Work From Home, or taking part-time studies while in employment. This is supposedly under the belief of "company loyalty" - One may sometimes do work outside the job scope, such as conducting surveys or call back (based on crunches). There is no way to refuse such situations, there will be no financial compensation for the additional work, and you are still expected to perform your usual work (e.g., analysis, reporting). At best, the company leadership may decide to allow staff to come in office later on the next workday. - Company leadership has a tendency to engage in micro-management and a need to be "responsive" (including weekends and leave/holiday, even if the matter at hand is non-essential). - Company leadership prefers to have control over the progress of works down to the fine detail. Hence, one will likely not make any decision on their own. Even the experienced staff have cultivated a habit to seek confirmation from the leadership before taking basic action for projects.
