Pros
On the job training. Oftentimes Economic Modeling Specialists will train you for technical positions. Some really fantastic people. Some of the smartest people I've ever met worked there at one point. Education. If you can swing it, they have historically paid for further education in specific fields. Location. If you like small towns, Moscow has it all in spades: a university town in a rural location with a great food culture and some really world class outdoors. Cost of living is decent though high for Idaho. Good health insurance. Low deductible. Good resume material. If you are just getting started, EMSI has entry level positions for you.
Cons
The CEO once gave a talk at the local Christian college. His pitch was “you are not worth as much as you think you are.” While this was influenced by the fact that EMSI was hiring the graduates for near minimum wage at the time, the attitude certainly has not changed. My time in engineering was marked by raise freezes and benefit cancellations for lower paid workers. Others I knew outside my department were told they would receive raises only to have them continuously “delayed” for 6 month increments. Unless you are brought in as middle management and are a specific age (i.e. “older”) there are no advancement opportunities. Your position itself may “reorganized” out of existence or demoted under more layers of excessive middle-management. Instead of promoting from within they have instead adopted the policy of importing those positions. EMSI runs on a culture of guilt and fear reinforced by its religious connections. Note the evangelical language of the positive reviews here. As a believer myself I do not take issue with the faith but rather its use as a bludgeon to motivate employees. A personal favorite was the memo “checking personal email while at work is theft and therefore sinful.” An employers tools to motivate employees are material. My soul is none of their business. I wish I could list these cons first as a framework for the pros. This is a fine place to establish credentials while staying in rural Idaho and perhaps even get some of your education paid for. It served as a great springboard for my career and I am thankful to have worked there. That is all it is though: a stepping stone to a real company.
