Trial by fire, but worth putting in the effort
Pros
Top pros: Travel, Compensation, Skills Growth Opportunities. Epic isn't the place for somebody who doesn't want to give 110%. They seek out new hires who perform well in school because a big part of this job is learning quickly. The benefit of this approach is that your coworkers are top notch. They're the ones that did all of the work in the group projects and end conversations with "What else can I do to help?" This is a very challenging job, but the folks who seem to struggle the most are the ones that don't quite fit the above description (or come into this job with different expectations). You will have a lot of travel opportunities with the job, but you have to take it upon yourself to make the most of it. Add personal travel onto your work trips to avoid only travelling to see the inside of an office building in a different city. Compensation matches Epic's expectations of job performance. You will learn so much in this job. And not just about healthcare IT... I've increased my problem solving, presentation, time management, people management, and persuasion skills during my four years here. Probably in that order. I'd be able to come up with multiple examples for each of those items during any future job interview.
Cons
Work life balance is what you make it. Epic's going to throw as much at you as they can, and it is generally your responsibility to manage and communicate your limits. You're expected to have higher limits than normal because you're surrounded by overachievers and they pay is based on you being an overachiever as well. Just pay attention to the balance between over achieving and overworked - and work with your TL to figure it out when that balance isn't being kept. Epic's not going to check in with you every day to make sure you're not staying too late. Travel. Yes, I listed it in the pros as well. The travel opportunities at Epic are great, but it's travelling to a different city to work in an office building. It's up to you to make the airplane and hotel life worth it. I'd expect travelling 75-80% of the time.
