Pros
You will very quickly be shuffled into very advanced programming. My team has been very patient with me as I learn a very complex system. This is an outstanding place to begin your career because you will be given responsibilities that you may not be ready for but it pushes you to learn. The people I work with are straight up BRILLIANT!! I'm no dummy. In fact, I've tested into the top few percentage points for IQ and I can tell you, if you want to work with absolutely amazing and brilliant people, this is definitely the place right out of college. The stuff you will be working on is cutting edge and state of the art on some teams. I know there are other teams that do more code maintenance and bug fixes but I can't speak to that. You start as a software developer with 15 days of vacation for the first year. And honestly, it's very easy to get your time off. They know software developing is extremely mentally rigorous and they make every allowance they can for you. Also many paid holidays. Memorial day, 4th of july, labor day among them. It seems like every 6 weeks there is a day off. The cafe on property is pretty good although it can get expensive if you're eating breakfast and lunch there....usually 6 or 7 dollars with a drink but you can keep it closer to 5 dollars per meal by putting your own drinks in the refrigerator. You really aren't micromanaged. You can come and go from your desk as you please as long as you stay on property. Although they don't pay a lot ( I will list that in "cons" section) they really REALLY value their software developers. It's their life blood and they KNOW it!! They try not to give you any trouble. The dress code is technically "business casual" but in reality, they don't care what you wear and it's nice wearing whatever you want. I started there wearing slacks and expensive dress shoes with button down shirts and light sweaters over that....now I wear jeans and sneakers and pull overs. Nobody cares. The work I personally am doing is extremely engaging!! If I work here a couple of years and more, I will be a very VERY good java developer!!! I work with a guy who sits next to me that has 10 years coding experience and reading his code is just a joy. Seriously, he is amazing. The other guy that I sit next to is another brilliant guy from China. Nobody does what OATI does better than OATI. They really do set the standard on cutting edge and state of the art energy related products.
Cons
Just so you don't think I"m a plant or cheerleader for the company, here are the cons. The pay is very low by industry standard. I am making 45k per year. Now, I justify this by considering the fact that I am essentially being paid to learn how to be an awesome java developer....and am I really worth 65k plus per year right out of college? NO!!! HELL NO!!! Don't overlook this company because of a sense of entitlement. There is MUCH to learn out of college. That being said...the pay is too low. I think 55k would be better for a reason or two I'll list in advice to management. Many people list the clock in and clock out system as a con and I can kind of see why they feel that way. It is indeed strict....but this is the contract you signed!! (if you read it) You owe them 40 hours per week. Sometimes it is more than that for some of my senior developer team but I think if they left at the 8 hour mark, nobody would say a thing because honestly, you are fulfilling your contract and what can they say to you? They are very big about their contract so they are definitely not going to fire you or treat you poorly when you are technically fulfilling your contract. Very little quality training. They do have these training seminars but they are taught by uncharismatic technical people and half of the classes don't even relate to what you're doing or are taught in an impractical way or at a time too early in the process. Your co-workers will have a difficult time with your questions and my immediate team has sometimes been hostile and patronizing. You are expected to get up to speed quickly and for the most part on your own so you do have to try to figure things out on your own first. This is okay because they don't demand deadlines on you when you're new and you can take the proper time to learn what you need to. They KNOW the system is complex and they KNOW it takes time to learn it.
