Pros
MSPs are a challenge and will tax your well-being. Nothing new there and I have the mental scars to prove it. Historically, I've been a pretty cynical person so when I first interviewed at ITS I felt no different. The interview process told me this place might be a bit different than what I was used to, though. The positivity around here seemed to be genuine. People worked well together and were kind to each other. Not one or two people - everyone. What is this madness? Is this for real? Well, it turns out it was and still is to this day (4 years later for me). If you're spending 8+ hours a day with people, you probably want to not hate them at a minimum. Maybe it's just me, but I do not work with a single person that I don't like. I can only speak for myself, but it seems to me pretty much everyone gets along well. That speaks volumes. The company culture is one of transparency and acceptance. You can be who you are with no fear of being bullied, feeling snickered at, or retaliated against, and not just for legal reasons. This is an environment where it's encouraged to be your best self, whoever or whatever that may be. This envirionment has literally changed my life for the better as a result. It's pretty hard to stay cynical when you are around people that genuinely seem to care for your well-being. Acknowledgement of a job well done is frequently given. Mistakes and problems are typically addressed with a "lemons into lemonade" approach - learn and move on. I feel ITS does its best to actually listen to employee input and accommodate personal limitations and situations. I personally have had positive experiences with all of these. The company core values here are generally adhered to. The impressive part to me is that it seems to be voluntary that people do this.
Kontras
Hey, not everything is perfect here. What job is, though? ITS IS an MSP, and MSPs can be hell to work at at times and don't always pay the best for the amount of work you'll put in (as compared to a corporate/enterprise type position where you would likely do less work). Not to be cliche, but the "lemons into lemonade" in this case is that you will work very hard, but you will also learn a lot if you can deal with the chaos. It can be a steep uphill climb, but the view from the top is nice. To be fair, though, that's just the nature of working at any MSP in my experience. ITS is VERY big on certifications. The more, the merrier. The con here for me, specifically, is that although they will pay for the cert tests, the time needed to study for these in addition to working a full day can be enough to blow a mental circuit and monetary compensation seems to be based more on certs than experience gained on the job.
