Pros
Getting through the interview was relatively easy. They are a 100% pro-female employer which is good, but women relate and think differently than men and when the gender distribution in a company or department, etc., is warped, weird cliques, personal wars and biases begin to form. The people I've met are respectful, kind and considerate. Nobody rocks the boat (see below). Promotes from within. They make the employee feel appreciated by doing all the little things remembering birthdays, hire date anniversaries and warm welcomes, etc. If you stay long enough, you can be promoted, but be prepared to wait. Many employees stay at the company for years and years because their job is comfortable and let's be for real, if you're not working on the military base, what other real job opportunities are there for you locally?
Cons
As old as the company is, I would expect them to be more organized, more modernized and better able to forecast and make strategic decisions. Instead, it seems that most actions are a reaction as opposed to a response. The company has tried hard and long to maintain old systems and processes and make them work for new problems - or just make them appear new when they indeed aren't. Improvements are happening, but they are exceedingly slow in coming. I hope this slow-to-change mentality doesn't cause they to lose marketshare. A number of the company's competitors are simply better equipped to offer what the customer needs. Being headquartered in a military town, too much of the leadership has a military background (whether soldier or spouse), and because the entire structure of the company is hierarchical with autocratic leadership, knowledge is pooled into certain individuals and people work very hard to protect the niche/spot/position they've attained. So in the company, key people have the knowledge, but the company itself doesn't! Most companies overcome this by having documented processes; this company doesn't. There are few documented processes outside of those that directly interact with the customer and HR of course. I believe the loyal culture of the military community along with the company structure has created massive group think which means they won't and don't face problems until it is or almost is a crisis, and no one is willing to deal with obvious issues for fear of running against the grain. Also, a lot of people complain about the pay. A company that's not run well can't pay well.
