Pros
Good pay, gifts on major employment anniversaries
Cons
For 5 years, I was proud to be an Optum employee. I personally enjoyed outstanding reviews, bonuses, good (for Optum) raises, praise from all directions. I loved working there; I excelled in my job and my work ethic meshed well with the productivity and accuracy goals we were required to meet and the overtime we were asked to put in. Shortly after my 5th anniversary, I was approached with a new job opportunity in a different department. It was something I had no experience in and had never considered as a career move but, hey, it was a 16K raise and I figured if they think I can do this, I can do it! Fast forward; we were both patently wrong on that count. This position did not mesh in any way with my skill set or my experience and it certainly didn’t play to my strengths. I could see that this wasn’t going to work out, but I couldn’t stay off a CAP long enough to apply for other jobs in the company, as per their rules. I was let go two weeks before Christmas and 40 hours of PTO just went…poof. I hoped to return the job I excelled at before I took the ill- thought out “promotion”. Every time a position came up for that position, with the hiring managers’ encouragement, I applied. I think I applied 8 or 9 times but never even got an interview. I didn’t understand why my applications never made it past HR until an inside recruiter let it slip that I was not eligible for rehire because I got a poor review at the job I was released from. It seems strange that all the years of success with Optum was undone be one review in a job that had nothing to do with the jobs I was applying for. As of today, Optum has nearly 7,600 job openings on their website. Their logic seems to be that no one who has ever been let go by the company is capable of doing any of them because of one poor review. My advice? If you’re in, it can be a positive experience. But it’s common knowledge that the quality of HR and the recruiting staff leaves much to be desired. Whatever you do, DO NOT try to branch out. Don’t think of going beyond your comfort zone. Because if you try something new and it doesn’t work out, that’s it for you and Optum.