Pros
Meaningful work: you have the ability to improve the quality of life for thousands of people in your choices of how to configure the software and manage the implementation and if you’re on a clinical application your work can save lives and improve people’s experience with healthcare. Agency: You will quickly have more responsibility than any fresh college grad should, and you’ll quickly find that you have a lot of power to shape large, powerful institutions and be heard. Culture: People love to hate on it but its pretty rare to find a job with the same mentoring infrastructure to grow new employees or such a high concentration of smart young people looking to make friends and start a career. Casual dress code and relaxed corporate culture are huge perks and I know if I scheduled a 15 minute meeting with my manager’s manager’s manager they’d accept the invite and take me seriously. Everyone has the power to escalate concerns and drive change.
Cons
Work-Life balance: Project managers work 45-60 hr weeks. Travel can be very rewarding, but also exhausting. You will always be given more work than one person can handle and you need to learn what to prioritize and when. Absolutely no remote work allowed (except for 2.5 days/year after your first 6 months). High stress: Your first project is particularly difficult as you will go from knowing nothing about the software, industry, or project management to leading a team of 2-10 analysts within the span of a few months. Learn quick or die. Madison relocation: non negotiable, and that includes winter.