Pros
PowerPlan hires most of its new consultants right out of college, making it a great way to get to know the city and socialize with people your age if you just graduated or are about to graduate. If you receive an offer, you may notice a few benefits including capped 401k matching, (average) bonuses, comprehensive healthcare coverage, and a decent starting salary. For those who want to be challenged and have an aptitude for solving complex problems, it may be an enticing deal. Also, if you happen to absolutely love accounting, have a knack for technology, and have a legitimate interest in the relevant industries, this sweetens the deal - PowerPlan has big name clients who have massive balance sheets and complex accounting systems. Skills After PowerPlan Unlike what many say here, there are skills you will learn at PowerPlan that will help you in your career. Familiarity with a relational database - namely, Oracle - is one of them. You will also learn the nature of big projects, and how they require careful planning and consideration. And most certainly you will become familiar with basic coding skills. Though be sure to read the section below regarding technology. Where do *you* fit in? PowerPlan typically hires all sorts of engineering majors, though it particularly likes high-performing industrial engineers for consulting, and of course, CS/CE majors for development. If you are a high-performing industrial engineer, this may be the place for you. However, take note of everything else mentioned below. If you're a CE/CS, take warning, and be sure to read the section on technology.
Cons
"Foot in the Door" Misunderstanding Many people who embarked on their journeys at PowerPlan believed it would be a good opportunity to take on a prestigious position at an energy company further down the road. This is quite simply not the case. Most people who leave PowerPlan either take on positions at one of the big four or at large technology services and outsourcing companies. Technology The rumors are true, PowerBuilder is dying. That's why you have never heard of it before. If you have been programming since you were 6 and majored in CompSci but have only a slight interest in asset accounting, PowerPlan is not for you. If you don't believe me, research the PowerBuilder documentation. The obtuse functionality makes for a steep learning curve, knowledge of which is not useful anywhere else. Also, its rendition of an object oriented system is unlike anything you ever learned in computer science, for good reason. And, the IDE is dreadfully bulky, unstable (it crashes at least a dozen times per day), extremely buggy, doesn't lend itself well to refactoring code (deleting objects, changing names, function arguments, etc) or debugging, and is generally very very painful to deal with. And on top of that everything is stored in a one-file, proprietary zip-like file called a pbl, colloquially called a 'pibble', and if you decide to work at PowerPlan, you will come to hate this word, as well as PowerBuilder. And no, you can't use Eclipse or VS to manage the source code, you *must* use the IDE. Though PowerPlan has been trying to move away from PowerBuilder, I would like to note that they have been trying to do so since the early 2000's in various various forms, and have embarked on two separate resource-intensive projects since 2010 that failed miserably. Management Culture The management culture is shaky at best. You will find that the people with the longest tenure and most knowledge of the PowerPlan system are your managers and direct your efforts accordingly. You will also find that these people take immense pride in their knowledge of the extremely complex PowerPlan system, a system that they developed. The profile of this type of person is very introverted; your managers are absolutely willing to help you, and will always tell you that you are doing well, but they will never tell you what they really think about your work or what they really want you to do to improve. The people in charge of departments are also unable bring change and propel their department forward because they spend most of their day doing what they do best - working on the system, answering questions, and solving code-related problems. The result of all this is simple: top-down communication is broken despite constant training from HR, and no one at the department level has the propensity to create and execute a greater vision. The Wrong People PowerPlan continues to make a bottom line because it's a monstrous necessity. Current clients continue to demand work from consultants to update their aging, irreplaceable systems. Prospective clients are wary but buy because it's the most comprehensive software package. PowerPlan has tried to gain market share in other industries but has failed to gain significant traction. Time and time again, you see the right people in the wrong positions leading to squandered opportunities for expansion and innovation because everyone responsible was too busy working. It's clear that PowerPlan is failing to achieve the same levels of growth it did during its primetime. In the end, be smart. Do your research. Ask lots of questions. Is this the right place for you? It may or may not be.
