Amazon

The stock compensation. However, be aware: if you join before January 1st, in your next review period, you won't receive any stock grant. The initial stock grant vests in 4 years:

• 5% in the 1st year
• 15% in the 2nd year
• 40% in the 3rd year
• 40% in the 4th year

Future stock grants vest in 2 years.

If you are really ambitious and willing to work hard—I mean, not have a life—65+ hours weekly, paying for your own Blackberry, then you will get promoted fast. That is if you don't piss anybody off. But hey, if you are willing to do the time...

This company is an insane asylum of ideas.

Just have to see which one sticks.

Recruiting here is awful. We try to go to UCLA/Cornell and hire engineers at a Support Engineer III level or Software Engineer I level, regardless of whether they have a BS or MS. Hiring an industry SDE II or III is awfully hard, since they expect individuals with 5-10 years of experience to still be able to answer college grad questions.

And Amazon is all about pager duty.

Many SDEs here also have an inflated sense of worth. Since we can't hire enough to barely account for attrition, SDEs here make all the rules.

Compensation is actually mediocre, given how much one works.

Senior management is highly variable. Some are remnants of start-up Amazon. If you get one of those, you are SOL, since they have no managerial skills whatever. Others are good.

Adjust the recruiting bar accordingly.

Break support and software development into separate teams, and then hire and pay accordingly for those teams. You will make everyone happier.

Ditch the "no politics" statement BS. This company is all about politics, which Amazon calls "networking." What a bunch of crap.

Pay realistically. Turnover is insane. There is a reason. This company is not that great to work for.