Pros
I've worked at a few different tech companies which were *vastly* different in culture, vision, and size. The first was a small startup which had me doing everything from writing code to answering phones. The next was a medical device company where a bug in the code could literally put lives at risk. Next was the largest software company in the world, which was the most intense place I've ever worked at. Then came Adobe, the best place I've worked at so far: - AWESOME pay! I was already giddy from my starting salary when they hired me. Now, 5 years later, it's up 25% on top of that, with (usually) yearly stock and cash awards, along with an additional %-of-your-yearly-salary bonus for being a Lead. By far and large, the pay more than makes up for any other shortcoming/nit-pick I have about Adobe. - An Employee Stock Purchase Plan which has been very good to us the last few years - Unlike the other companies I worked for, Adobe (in San Jose) has a higher-than-average median age, which means families, which means the building is mostly deserted by 5.30pm - Private offices! If you've been with the company long enough (3+ years), you'll probably get an office with a window. - VERY easy to move around and take on leadership roles, if you've got the right attitude. I mention in the "Cons" section that engineering is filled with introverts, so if you're able to step out of that area, the sky's the limit. - Free refreshments and (limited) healthy snacks in the break room. - Free meals for engineers that stay until 6.45pm - Well-outfitted onsite gym (with showers & lockers) - Best-looking set of buildings in the city. There are out-of-towners taking pictures of the building all the time. - Friday beer-bash events
Cons
- Hardware refresh policy (for new monitors/laptops) is a bit stingy. You only get automatic hardware updates every 3years. However, if you have good reason for it, management may agree to new hardware earlier than that. - Health Insurance options are the same as all other companies around here, but unlike Google and nearby startups, Adobe only covers 85% of the health insurance benefits (instead of 100%) - The people here (in San Jose) are a bit on the older side, so there's not as much of the youthful spirit as you'd see in companies like Google or Facebook. - If you're an engineer (like me), be prepared to be surrounded by the stereotypical introverted personality types!
