Avantages
* Really is a "small company makes it big" success story. * Wide variety of hardware and software projects, covering whatever your latest interest * HQ is a great campus in a great city; branch offices around the world offer a chance to dip your toe in all sorts of things * Promotion from within -- you know your competition when trying for a spot because they're mostly the same people you've worked with for years
Inconvénients
* NI is a social network. A VERY social network. Surprisingly so for a bunch of engineers. Lots of tight friend circles, intra-company dating, that sort of thing. And that means that news spreads often through back channels, and opportunities to advance can be missed because you didn't go to a particular party to overhear that news. Luckily, it's never too late to start meeting people and forming your own back channel group. * Lots of growing pains. The transition from small company to large has had some missteps. Nothing egregious, but annoying. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out who is the proper authority on a given topic, which leads to a lot of "better to ask forgiveness than permission" attitudes.