Pros
Beautiful new campus. Casual atmosphere.
Cons
First of all, there is a serious lack of process in this building. Although it's the "fancy new IT headquarters," compared to other Metlife buildings, this one lacks the most when it comes to workload balance and basic procedures. It immediately feels like they spent all of their energy in making the campus beautiful, but absolutely no thought was put into their internal processes. This is an OLD company. And a lot of processes are OLD. TONS of legacy systems are keeping them afloat. Unfortunately, that means the processes are mainly understood by the old timers (who aren't always willing to clue you in, especially if you're ultimately taking over their job). Given the fact that they're hiring so many NEW people, you'd think they'd cover the basics with the new hires, like, I don't know.... How to get your hands on some office supplies. Sure. There are amenities. There's fooseball and ping pong and Xbox games and Connect Four (yes, just like we played in 2nd grade), but who has time to play games when you're too busy figuring out how to get your new ID badge from security - because nobody - including your manager or the 10+ security guards standing around - will know how to get you one, and it could take a few WEEKS after you get there; but only if you can find someone who knows what to do. Their systems are ridiculously antiqued and confusing. Nobody seems clear on the onboarding processes. The "inherited laptop" I was given had Windows XP on it. Please remind me what makes this place cutting edge....? Oh yea... It's the Hungry Hungry Hippo and Jenga waiting for you on every floor (oh boy!). If you enjoy actually working, this place is not for you. Take a walk around, and you'll find millennials wandering aimlessly on every floor, playing game after game. You start to wonder, "do these people ever work?" Talk to some of those millennials and you'll learn that they actually don't have any work to do, because their manager hasn't figured out what they'll be doing yet. That might seem like a great gig to some, until it comes time to hand out bonuses, then you'll be out of luck because you didn't have any work to do. I've never witnessed such an obscene amount of politics in one place. Not to worry though, once you get there, you will be told immediately who you can - and can't - converse with; who to BCC on your emails, who to make sure you get in front of, and who to stay away from (and you better take good notes!). Did I mention this is supposed to be an uber collaborative environment? Not a lot of help from peers at the other sites. On more than one occasion, I've heard the Cary campus referred to as "the emerald city" by outside employees. This place claims to be on par with SAS, Google, etc., but let's be honest: there's nothing cool about using COBOL. If you like the idea of your career warping back to the stone age, this place might be a good fit for you. If you want your career to advance, this is probably not the place for you.
