Pros
For newly graduated students, Edge offers great environmental lab experience with a big variety of prep methods and analyses. The start/end time is quite flexible for certain roles (some are dictated by sample holding times). The people working in the lab (techs, analysts, and receiving staff) are wonderful & very fun people which makes that aspect of the work environment very enjoyable. The medical insurance is quite good, the 401K match program is competitive, and there are options for additional insurance programs that the employee can choose to participate in. The environment is also very casual and laid back, which helps balance out some of the fast-paced nature of the analytical work. The middle-management deparment heads are both incredibly kind, well-intentioned people and they are very easy to come to with work related issues. Progress is on the horizon!
Cons
Very antiquated management practices, no salary transparency which lead to huge discrepencies in salaries between individuals with varying amounts of experience, education, and tenureship (note: since leaving, I've heard improvements have been made in this category!). There is very little feedback provided and the inorganic department didn't have formal performance reviews. which made growth feel extra slow. There is no true HR and the upper management is comprised of all relatives, which compromises certain professional boundaries. Lastly, the hours worked by salaried employees are very regularly greater than 40/week, with management's belief that it will "balance out throughout the year" rather than approving overtime--this did not seem effective and employees regularly worked 5-10 uncompensated hours per week in order to meet workload demands.