Pros: Long-term opportunity for contractors. There are many talented people to learn from. It may be a good starting job for recent college graduates, and a first job or intern position.

Cons: Long working hours, lack of work-life balance. There were months at a time where we worked over 15-16 hours a day without any extra hours pay. There were even a couple of days that we spent overnight. Our manager was a perfectionist and wanted all the code the way he wanted it, as he comes from a software development experience. We were frequently asked to work on the weekends without any overtime pay. Since it was my first job in the US after my master's study, it was okay. However, when I left that place and worked for other companies, I realized how cruel the Deloitte environment was. I am referring to the Camp Hill, PA location. As a contractor, the company needs to pay by the hour; however, they frequently asked employees to work extra and pay only for 8 hours. I was even surprised to see a job advertising for the same position saying that we expect 60 hours a week but pay only for the first 40 hours. This is like slavery. I am not sure how this is acceptable in the US.

Pros: The single biggest advantage of a large company is resources — of all kinds. Money-wise, while large companies do generate a lot of overhead, they also have the money to cover it. That manifests itself in all sorts of ways. If business slows down, you still get your wage at the end of the month.

Cons: With all of those resources and processes comes bureaucratic red tape. You’ll have a tough time having any ideas heard, let alone ones that are outside your pay grade that you think might improve “the company” as a whole. The larger a company gets, the more risk-averse it becomes — deviation from standardized practices is rarely tolerated.

Pros: Good projects to work on.

Cons: Very average growth potential. Way too much work per person.