Pros
1) Good compensation: I joined ICON at the salary I demanded from them. I was not willing to budge from my demand. So I am not sure whom I should credit this to. Anyways this should be a positive for the company. 2) Work Life Balance: I have never had to overwork myself. if I put in extra hours it was entirely due to my inefficiency or concern for the project not the other way round. 3) Free Dinners: I have had 3 dinners in my 9 month period from ICON as benefits. It doesn't appeal to me personally. Anyways thought about mentioning it.
Cons
1) Too much of "i" in the company and less of "we". Everyone from top to bottom is on a race to showcase "iachieve". This is a fundamental cultural problem in ICON. Hence it is a nightmare for new people to join as there is very little help you should expect. You have to be talented and exposed to get your way around these obstacles. 2)Too many sheets to update. Productivity sheet, Quality sheet, Utilization sheet, Programming Development &Validation Development sheet, ### sheet, Leave sheet.. etc. and the list is unending. One has to appreciate the data driven culture for review of performance and quality. But this is like taking it to the extremes. You tend to remember the good old days when you just had a manager to impress. Micro management is rampant. 3)Communication: Forget about improving these skills as you are mainly talking through sheets. There is no interaction between onsite personnel and that privilege is only limited to study leads, Principal Programmers and Managers. 4)Everyone is living in fear of making a mistake. So with very limited customized trainings people are not encouraged to spread their expertise and the result is a group of talented professionals but a weak system.