Avantages
Overall NI is a good company to work for. Great work-life balance is their best perk. Relaxed, they use latest technologies (No web, nor mobile technologies though), good work environment and good development practices. Some organizations allow you to switch teams once a year. NI is a good company to start your career, learn the basics, then move on.
Inconvénients
The R&D department has 2 big problems: Centralization of knowledge and free riders. "Key People" will not share their knowledge and will try to micromanage the direction of the product. Good luck with code reviews, this people will want to review every single line of code, creating a bottleneck. There's a big amount of so-called "Dinosaurs", people that have been working for NI for more than 10 years, and now have 0 motivation to give more than the minimum. NI has a "fire someone as last resort" policy, this people take advantage of that. If you are a new grad do not let them "brainwash" you with their "You'll not find a better culture anywhere", there are also other good places to work with better culture, perks and most importantly: compensation. The company is very open stating that they will not try to be a "Great place to work" anymore and that they will not try to have great compensation. Benefits are decent, pay is under market, bonuses are non-existent, and change is slow.