Cool projects, great mentors, youthful energy
Pros
POET is a well-run company, with a lot of smart people. It was my first job after college, and it was mostly a great experience. They really invested a lot in me, and I'm very grateful for the valuable skills I learned there. I worked at the main office, and its super nice. It has tons of natural light, hardwood carpentry, great landscaping, a modern gym, a market with fresh salads/sandwiches, and more. There's always a bunch of fun/stupid 'events' going on, like Chili Cookoff, Taco Tuesday, Bring Your Kid (Trick 'or Treat), etc... One time the Mayor was there. For an office, it was relatively fun. The CEO is kind of a quack, but I liked him. He's forward thinking and a risk taker, but I always trusted his direction with the company. At quarterly updates he'd sometimes get sidetracked and start rambling about toxins and/or democrats, and it was always a good time when that happened. Also, he has like 4 private jets that you fly around on, so that's sweet.
Cons
The travel really can be really miserable. They cram like 6 of you into a single Ford Explorer rental, and everyone is either stinky and/or grouchy. You leave the hotel at like 6:30 AM and sometimes don't get back until 10 PM. And when you're on site you're working *hard*. And like, not engineering-type work-- You're knee-deep in sludge and slime, in the summer heat (or winter cold), climbing ladders and turning wrenches and crawling around. And the entire travel thing is pretty thankless. No incentive/overtime pay, little comp time, same bonus as the accountants. The pay always felt kinda low, but that could have been because I wasn't the best worker.