Relatively stable but mind-numbingly corporate
Pros
great reputation, good benefits and salary, looks good on resume, overall company research is interesting
Cons
Not for people who actually care about the meaning behind the work they do. If you don't have a PhD, you'll spend weeks working overtime on projects you have no background on because breeders are never around and no one else on station wants to care about the science behind the project even though the company's research is leading the industry. I got the feeling that it was "uncool" to actually want to learn about agriculture and plant breeding, apparently that was reserved for the senior scientists only. Most people just wanted steady desk work or drive equipment around, which is fine, but does not live up to the "be curious" motto of the company. The only "opportunities for growth" were online web courses made for the ag salesmen, so very entry level stuff if you studied ag sciences. Very easy to get pigeon-holed into doing the same tasks. There was never enough work to do during the low seasons so there was this weird old boy's club of sitting around chatting about nothing work related and office gossip. I feel like people got so bored sometimes it caused them to micromanage their coworkers of the same title. Lots of pretending to be busy and shoving off work to other people. Locations tend to be rural even compared to other seed companies so if you're not a middle-aged white conservative it can be hard to relate to coworkers. Little room for promotions within the company due to how titles and duties are structured. I was glad to work there while I did. It's a fine company and the benefits are really good. Some of the work is fun and moderately interesting and my manager was great. It was a good place to jump from to get into other seed companies. But man, it was mentally draining to be in such a corporate environment with no tangible meaning. I feel like whenever we weren't doing fieldwork, most of this job was just bureaucracy. Although some people might find comfort in the stability and huge amount of free time during low seasons. I realized I was sick of this place after I had to sign that I read a document about how to put together a large cardboard box.
