Amazon

Amazon is a place where people are encouraged to look for challenges to step up to. If you're hungry and nail these opportunities, there's always more, bigger ones to keep knocking down. Top talent at Amazon is rewarded extremely well. Everybody here is scary smart. The brightest can rise fast. As far as software companies go, Amazon is definitely top tier. Our technology is unbelievable, and you won't believe some of the awesome stuff we're working on.

Benefits are just ok (probably more than offset by comp though).

The environment can feel like a startup still in a few places around the company, but your mileage may vary, and you're more likely to find yourself in a division that feels corporate. This is much less the case for engineers, who are generally shielded from too much BS by their managers.

Expect to work longer than 40 hours a week on most teams, in most roles. There can be slack times, but when launch approaches (or it's Q4 for anyone working near the retail website), you'll find yourself leaning in pretty hard for short bursts.

Pay no attention to Wall Street. Those who "get" us and go long will win. Those who don't understand we plan on investing every dollar earned in innovating, delivering value, and anything else that makes customers happy, well, they won't be part of this big, lucrative ride.