If you don't play the game, prepare to get played
Pros
For the Researcher position the pay is nice, even for the Midwest
Cons
Cincinnati-a city that hopes to Chicago or Indy, but is too stuck in its ways to become great. Life of a young professional here pretty much is dead. Pretty much like the companies in the city Politics-you literally have to spend as much time on actual work, as you do managing your career if you want to get ahead. A lot of brown nosing. Boring work-gets pretty mundane in R&D Work Life Balance-What is that? I worked on average 6 days a week, pulling down 50+ hours. During plant EOs, 18hr days were the norm. At the Researcher position, there is literally no career progression. You get one promotion (Sr. Researcher) for the entirety of your career, and that is it (you do get pay increases). Your engineering friends will out earn you (they start at ~$20K more than you do) and have the career of their dreams, while you are stuck at one position for the rest of your career. But you won't initially be told this. You won't find this out until you go to a onboarding training where they show you the percentages of people at each level, and what percent make it to their desired level in the TCS. Odd TCS placement: There were people with MS/MPHs and other graduate degrees that were at the same level as I was with a BS. Middle Manager Glut-the band 3 manager position is insanely bloated with untalented people, who only seek the money. Not people who know, or want to learn how to manage Company Culture- They talk a good game about managers being flexible, and understanding the needs of their employees. Your section head/AD can literally decree: No flex time and no OT. So I just worked 12hrs, and I am expected to be here tomorrow before 9am? And I won't get pay for that additional 4 hrs I worked? GTF. But you will always have friends in other business units where flex time is the norm. Egos/Hierarchy-It exists. Like, literally the time you go to lunch tells where you are on the totem pole at some R&D sites. Also, the stroking of egos must be done to get ahead. And never outshine your daily coach, in any fashion, you will regret it, because they will feel intimidated. My advise: Go to graduate school, teach, do whatever, cause you won't be happy here. The city is very conservative and not a great place for young people, the company doesn't understand Millennials or what we desire in our careers, I never felt that I was making a difference in the world selling tooth paste, or paper towels. If you want to sit in your cube, kiss up to people who are not really that talented just to get ahead, then this is the place for you.
