Pros
I went the AE-PSE path that technical new hires usually take. I did well in both, won some awards and ended up staff level before I took off. I chose NI out of college for a few reasons I think are still valid: 1) Austin is a fun place to be the first years out of college. This isn't related to career at all but I think it provides a good way to come out of your engineering shell and establish a work life balance by finding people and things you like and can engage in while driving a career. No one should be the 35yo engineering stereotype. 2) The exposure to different engineering disciplines and companies in AE is unmatched by anything but a marketing or sales role. 3) NI technology is valuable and innovative. Some reasons I think I over-weighted are: 1)Stability. If you can get into NI, you have other options anyway, but you will have to try to get fired. While this acts like insurance while you get your feet under you to be industry competitive, you just don't need it. 2) Great place to work. Form your own opinion on this. No statistic will ever say what culture you personally will enjoy. 3) ELP. ELP is a "marketing construct" (the guy who started the program's words, not mine), not a job reality.
Cons
I left the company after three years for a few different reasons: 1) Management overhead. It is ridiculous how many managers there are in R&D and how poorly they function at developing talent. 2) Inability to take risks to provide opportunities, on both an individual and product level. 3) Lack of performance on an individual and product level. This has officially been recognized within NI as critical issue causing growth problems. My opinion is that it is heavily tied into the first two issues To a new hire I think the bottom line is that this is a learning opportunity, not a career company.