National Instruments Application-Engineer reviews

We work very long hours for average pay. We aren't told that during recruiting that some Applications Engineers work up to 80 hours a week, effectively halving hourly pay. Instead, there is a projection of a "fun" atmosphere where everyone works reasonable hours. The department depends on hiring employees who have extremely good work ethic, who will complete work that has to be done, even if that means working till past 10pm for a week. Exploitative, almost. There is also extremely high expectation on the quality of work produced. Management also tends to be extremely patronizing toward employees, and there is a Big Brother environment where people are too afraid to talk about or raise important issues that concern work environment. Work-life balance is a complete joke.

If you are looking for a stable environment where you are not constantly pressured to go over and beyond expectations, you typically do not fare well at National Instruments. Those people that just want the normal 9-5 job are often alienated from the rest of the group that sacrifice the work-life balance to get ahead. If you dont' fit in, you slowly get "expunged like a virus," as stated in the company's favorite book, "Built to Last."