Pros
- The training period was pretty great. Covered a lot of advanced stuff pretty well for such a condensed amount of time. I'm definitely a stronger programmer for my time there, however brief. - The trainer was a great guy and I really wish I could still learn from him.
Cons
- The big one is that they want to present you to potential clients as someone with a lot more experience than you actually have. They mostly recruit people from right out of school, but try to place them as mid to senior level developers. Initially I figured it was because their training regiment was so good that they could pull it off, but then you find out they are just going to make it seem like you have been involved with other ventures of the company. As someone starting my career it seemed like a bad way to start things off. I don't want to start anything based on a bunch of lies, let alone my professional career. - They say they will send you to wherever their clients need people, wherever that may be. It's understandable that they would need to do this, but on the first day they pretty much tell people they offer no support, no matter where they send you. There is a decent chance you can have some say in where you go, but it sounds like the odds are slim. And on the first day they say when you do get "placed" they will not help with moving expenses, you should ask for a loan from your parents and rent out a room you find on Craigslist. Not exactly generous terms. - 50k a year, which is decent in most fields, but not for software development. Especially not with all they crazy things they expect of you. - During the training they put you up in a cheap hotel room in Fairfax (walking distance to the office at least). You have a roommate in the hotel room too. It's not that bad if you get along with your roommate, it even has a college feel sometimes, but that's not really what I was looking for when I finished college. Eventually they put you in an apartment, with a roommate in the room with you too. It's far away from the office and the furniture is falling apart. - The city of Fairfax is just depressing. And the places you would go when they "place" you with a client don't sound great either.