Pros
If you are a performer with solid relationships you can succeed fairly nicely at Applied. The size of the company provides for many opportunities for advancement. The size of the company and its financial condition also provides some stability in a very unstable economy. You really need to get to the director level however to start enjoying more significant compensation benefits. Advancement is not based on merit alone however.
Cons
As noted above, need to be above director for better compensation benefits. Until then, it is an up or out type of environment. Some positions allow for 9-5, hideout for the rest of your career types, but forget about recognitions and meaningful salar increases if you want such a position. Highly political. If you are on the wrong side of an issue, you can expect others to try to take your knees out from under you. Only place where I've seen corporate VP's call other corporate VP's idiots to a whole room of employees. While true of anywhere, relationships are key here. You'll need to make your advancements. There is no objectivity applied in the promotion category, so you'll need to work hard to align yourself with someone on the upswing so you can follow in their wake. If you are politically savvy, willing to work hard and put in face time, willing to follow orders and not rock the boat, this is not a bad place for you. Also, a lot of execs who are milking this and are retired in place. the lack of growth and senior execs leaving has limited upward mobility and considerably slowed advancement. management in some disciplines, IT and finance notably, don't provide good career risks for people to advance. They don't stretch their employees. If you start at a lower position here, it will take you much longer to advance than other companies. This is a nasty environment, but if you can exist and navigate this environment you can do very well here.