Pros
-You don't need to fill out time sheets if you are a technical staff member so you don't need to worry about every individual second of time you spend -The people around you are doing really cool things and getting cool opportunities -There are projects where you can have a big national security impact -Some of the people are nice -MIT name is prestigious -There is a pension plan
Cons
-I honestly can't recommend it here because experiences are too variable among myself and my peers, so I have no guarantees for you -You probably won't get to work on the good projects, because everyone will want to work on them, and there is limited funding -The group leaders are not good at management, and they almost try not to be good at management because they don't want to seem less technical (there is a stigma that a good people person isn't technical) -The distribution of opportunities is really unfair. I don't think that it is intentional, but the group leaders just really don't know what they are doing and will justify any decision they make, so they will tell you no, even though they tell other people yes. -You will be paid less than industry, and you will find out that your pay is drastically different from the people around you (even in the same staff level and group). I have heard of differences of $30,000, mostly because of starting salary differences that compound. Sometimes staff members receive outside offers and negotiate that way. -A lot of people are know-it-alls and they are really opinionated about topics that they actually know nothing about -Staff will brag about hours they work but then tout a work life balance.