I'd previously done freelance consulting with university administrative IT departments. They tend to be service based rather than project based so have a differ

I'd previously done freelance consulting with university administrative IT departments. They tend to be service based rather than project based so have a different focus. Though research projects run for several years, culturally it has been most similar to work I've done with a consulting firm. My colleagues work hard, care about the work they do, but also about each other. What I miss most from working in an engineering company is the technical feedback I received from my colleagues. Now, they're experts in a different area. In that respect it's not that different to working in any other non-tech company. You'll probably spend a significant chunk of time introducing good development practices (testing, etc.) But expect to be asked to justify them too. This can be great, but hard work without the common experience to fall back on. Like any organisation there is huge variability between teams and projects. I'm not sure I'd read too much into my comments. An anecdote is just that.