Pros
ISA prides itself in trying to make a difference on important matters. The compensation is probably the most fair in the business. ISA does not abuse it's engineers like so many companies, but treats them as professionals akin to medical doctors or lawyers, who are paid by the hour, unlike so many engineering firms who pay for 40 hours and expect 60 to be worked. ISA compensates for travel time, as is expected for professionals, but rarely executed for engineering firms. The work is challenging, and so there is opportunity for expansion of skills. ISA also has one of the best benefit packages around.
Cons
The biggest drawback is the lack of opportunity for advancement. The org chart has essentially 2 layers; management, and everyone else. This causes a lot of tension and missed opportunities. As is so common, management tends reluctant to delegate authority, but has no problem delegating responsibility. This is the worst of all worlds, and leads to an organization that is probably 30% efficient and prone to poor decision making, since even fairly trivial decisions must be funneled through management. Unfortunately, ISA has forgone numerous opportunities over the years as a result of this as well. Management is too overburdened to think about these new opportunities, and will not allow anyone else to do that thinking for them . The company could have been 5 times it's current size by now if not for this.
