Pros
You can use the opportunity to learn. You may also get some contacts depending on your position. It's also not hard. It's perfect if you like a super easy job mired with abhorrent management. However, I would recommend it for people that are not sure what field they want to go into. This job can give you a lot of knowledge of many sectors. I would not stay longer than 2 years.
Cons
There is really no oversight at the individual locations over than looking at numbers. Managers try to increase their numbers through refusal to upgrade equipment or expand technologies and instead get rid of employees and ask the remaining less-than-skeleton crew to use outdated and/or dangerous equipment. They are on the stepping over dollars to pick up dimes mentality rather than the spend money to make money mentality. Being so regressive, they are basically slowly circling the drain. They are not into reinvesting in any acquired labs. Additionally, the data submitted is usually acquired on a decades old instrument that customers would probably refuse if they saw it being collected. Many times numbers are changed in order to provide "correct" values to customers. There is very little integrity. Managers do not like to hear suggestions for improvement. If you have a problem, you should probably just start looking for another job rather than offer ways to improve the culture or productivity of the location. The meeting will just be a waste of your time. Pay is poor. Benefits are poor. Opportunities are poor. The only way to move up is if the person above you dies or leaves. The management is so protective of itself that none of them will be fired so there is absolutely no career opportunity here. Annual raises range from 0 to less than a cost of living upgrade. Employee meetings are disingenuous. Right before higher-ups come, the managers scramble to clean the place. The only time the floors were ever waxed was right before an upper was coming down. Managers put on their business best and pretend to be involved while the uppers are here and then business as usual when they leave.
