Most projects are pain, but beginners can learn a lot
Pros
Beginners can learn the industry basics, have a culture of learning Paid 'bench' time, between two projects - striving to retain people, even when there are no billable jobs soon: social security
Cons
- I worked on multiple projects through the years and ~3/4th of them were bad, either for bad/missing processes and infrastructure or software development culture standards on the client side. Emphasis is on the 'client side', as Epam strives to maintain a proficient engineering culture, but for them a s a business, every project is good that is billable, no matter how painful the engineers have to collaborate with the client. At the end of the day, only the billed engineers' hours matter. - It strongly depends on luck which project you will be assigned. When you are in, you have to apply and interview for projects, as you would normally on the external market, and clients are the same choosy. It happens, that Epam can't sell people being on bench, as clients expectations are so high, and this is frustrating. - After hitting the floor as an engineer, you are done, and no other ways to earn more, but switching onto the management track, even if they try to find fancy names for the next stages in the proposed career paths