Sibling is going through the interview process at Fast Enterprises for an Implementation Consultant role, couldn't find much online but what I did find seemed a little sketchy, anyone here have any more info on pros/cons/experience working there? For reference: they're not looking for a dev job as much as a business/it role
If they aren't looking for a dev role then they should give it a shot. If it's an implementation consultant position then, while there may be some opportunities to write code, it's definitely not the focus of the role.
Hey OP, former "FASTie" here. I left a couple years back but here's my take: If your sibling is serious about being a developer I'd honestly tell them to look elsewhere unless they are struggling to get any other interview. I think the company seems 'sketchy' because there is a lot of negative sentiment felt from employees who left or are trying to leave--usually pertaining to lack of growth in technical knowledge or transferable skills. The opportunity to learn as an engineer at FAST is pretty limited. I still talk to former coworkers who are still there but most of them are coasters; those who are trying to leave are struggling to find opportunities elsewhere due to lack of transferable skills. There are a lot of internal dev tools which abstract away a lot of the actual development work. Their stack is proprietary: no modern frameworks (frontend nor backend), programming with VB.NET in 2023, only using MSSQL or Oracle for databases. Infra is hosted onsite so you are unlikely to work with public cloud platforms like AWS. The tech is pretty ancient but it works for their business model. Most of the work is talking down the client into being okay with the limited configuration you have with the software, not actual dev work (hence your note regarding looking for a "business/IT role"). WLB is usually pretty bad (FAST gets contracts with gov agencies for funding but they usually have predetermined go live dates). These dates usually don’t change, but your release requirements usually do so it’s common to be in a crunch to get everything done in time. Location wise: (unless it’s a HQ position), you do not get a choice for your project location and most locations are not great (small town state capital cities). It's in the company's mantra to work side by side with your client so remote work is pretty much non-existent (the pandemic was the exception). On a positive side note, you get a COLA if you are assigned to a location with a high cost of living.
They shifted to c# like 3 years ago, they do support cloud hosting like Amazon and offer their own cloud hosting as well. PostgreSql is also an option for DB providers. None of that really matters though if you are an implementation consultant. Like I said in my other comment, it's not really a developer role so your points on stagnation and transferable skills in relation to the tech stack is correct. It's really a matter of what your career goals and expectations are
I saw on linkedin a couple folks were able to move on to software engineer roles afterwards. I'm currently interviewing with them right now and scheduled the final interview. Is it a bad idea to take this job in hopes of finding a swe job later?
Stay TF away from this company if you are an ambitious software developer. If want to get paid pretty well and do boring trivial work for decent pay (not as good as Bay area swe though) go here. This is not a place for ambitious software engineers
Have you worked there?
Yes. Why does it seem sketchy?
https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/cj2j3k/psa_fast_enterprises_predatory_recruiting_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button This post and similar
I've heard this feedback from people who thought the position was something that it's not. It's not a normal software developer job. ICs mostly configure a commercial-off-the-shelf solution to the client's needs. There's coding but it's not overly complex. Most dev work is configuration. Hardest part is understanding the business problems and solving them with the tools available.