Adobe

Adobe is full of very smart, friendly, talented people. You get to work on some really interesting products. There's a good work/life balance. It's a blue-chip company that probably isn't at much risk of failing. You may get a fairly competitive offer when you are first hired.

In my first 9 years, during boom times, I had no promotions and no raises beyond cost of living (and not always even that).

I'm good at what I do, but I didn't take career management seriously enough during those 9 years.

No one so much as mentioned the word "career" to me until this year.

I finally managed a promotion and a small raise; it was like pulling teeth.

Adobe is crowded with talented people, and focuses pretty heavily on cost control, and unless you're lucky, it's hard to find ways to move up.

Take career development seriously. Help your employees move up steadily. Adobe is a good place to work, but it's not good enough to keep people without tangible rewards.