Pros
-Exposure to customers, which helped me secure my next role. -Gained insight into what I don’t want in a job, helping clarify career goals. -Opportunity to understand the inner workings of a sales/application engineering team.
Cons
-High turnover: almost everyone leaves within a year. -Role is extremely repetitive; first-level tech support could be handled by physics undergrads with interest in optics. -Management constantly changes (five different managers in one year). -Current management lacks experience and authority, making team support inconsistent. -Management shuts down new ideas and projects, limiting growth opportunities. -Hiring strategy is misguided: many team members are overqualified (e.g., PhDs in biology) while skills like optics knowledge are undervalued. -Overemphasis on language skills rather than technical fit for the role.