Pros
WSB has experienced tremendous growth in their recent history. They have expanded into multiple markets, opened several offices in 4+ states, and offer a great starting point for entry level staff wanting to get into the industry. WSB really shines in their opportunities and benefits for management level staff. If you have 10+ years of experience, are licensed, and are well-connected, WSB will treat you like royalty. Company phones, tablets, vehicles, credit cards, and all kinds of perks are at your fingertips. Management staff enjoys great pay, large bonuses, company awards at the yearly celebration, high-profile projects, travel, extended vacation, paternity leave, and generally preferential treatment from C-suite executives. If you're well into your career, WSB is a great place to consider finishing out your last few career years at before retiring.
Cons
The founders of WSB started the company due to being treated poorly at the firm they were at. This firm was one they all had been with since graduating college with their engineering degrees, and they were all in their late 20's and early 30's. The irony of WSB's culture is that the non-management staff are having very similar experiences to the ones that caused the founders to make their own company. Basically, the founders have now moved up and realized that "it's good to be the king." Those on top look out for their own, anyone with less than 10 years of experience is an expendable nobody who is over-worked, under-paid, and told their not a "team player" if they question any of this or speak up. If you're not a big-deal at the company, you can kiss work/life balance goodbye. Not overtly though. It'll be guilt trips, menial raises, bypassed promotions, and laughable bonuses. Also, if you have less than 10 years of experience, expect a bonus that's maybe 1%-2% of your take-home pay at the end of the year. And while you're trying to pay rent, bills, student loans, and put food on your own table, your bosses will hound you for donations to the holiday drive. Another point is variety of work. If you find yourself on a lucrative, highly-billable contract, say goodbye to diversifying your skillset. Every last hour you charge is mico-managed to the extreme to make project managers look good, get raises, get bonuses, etc. Overtime is expected, but budgets need to come in at or below targets, so there's a lot of implied "you need to work for free this evening because we have a deadline." Nothing overt, of course, just enough smoke and mirrors to keep WSB looking like an all-star top-of-the-line company to work for. Just keep in mind, any firm that pushes "company culture" this hard is only doing so because it's still a problem for at least some segment of the staff. WSB also pushes "company loyalty" harder than most firms from what I've heard. They know they under-pay non-management/c-suite staff and quell dissent swiftly. My best advice for younger staff is to get enough experience at WSB to go find a better job and respectfully move on.
