Pros
--Very good compensation and benefits --Opportunity to work in a domain I'm passionate about --Coworkers and managers almost without exception were smart, helpful and very decent folks --I was on the low end of the scale for stock options, but it was still enough to be a substantial boost to my nest egg --Being with one of the top tech companies provides a strong credibility factor --Diversity is an important part of the culture
Cons
--Little to no opportunity to expand into other areas beyond what they hired you for. They probably have other people who are already doing that and you can't "step on toes". --Much talk of personal growth and training, but ultimately that was left up to me to pursue on my own. --Could never get a firm answer to the question "what should I be doing to advance my career?" Promotions *do* happen, but it seemed like it was determined more by a pre-planned schedule than anything I had control over. --I had many ideas for ways to help the team but they were almost always ignored. Seemed like if it wasn't thought up by a senior manager, it wasn't worth considering. --My "official" manager was someone I would sometimes not talk to for months at a time. The actual day to day management was delegated to someone else.
