NI is a fun place to work with brilliant employees and provides stable careers, but it comes at a cost.
Pros
I really like the work environment and corporate culture. For a medium- to large-sized company, it seems very close-knit. Everybody gets along really well, from techs to software people to upper echelons of management. Furthermore, many of the director level and senior management positions are staffed by people who have technical backgrounds and worked as engineers prior to their elevation to management. Finally, the company's track record of over 30 years without a layoff is a comfort in an economy that can seemly go from boom to depression in no time at all. Leadership has charted steady growth for National Instruments and while it might not burn the doors off the market, the company does grow and prospers through tough times.
Cons
As many of the other people will attest to, the compensation level for comparable positions is on average lower than at other companies in Austin. The situation used to be worse ten years ago, but there has been some movement towards making salaries competitive with other major employers in the area. The benefits package seems to get stingier and stingier each year, with the cost to add dependents going up signficantly over the last few years. National Instruments' stock performance leaves something to be desired as well and should be thought of as a long-term investment. Many of the options doled out in the boom period of 1999-2001 still remain under water. Finally, the golden days of the weekly (even monthly) deck parties are over. Now there's a deck party maybe once a quarter and the food and drink goes quickly, somewhat disappointing compared to the way things used to be and how they still continue to sell it at on-campus recruiting events.
