ASML

The machines we build are truly stuff of science fiction. And being the only feasible provider of EUV-based photolithography in the world doesn't hurt either.

If you're bright, driven, and don't mind the super-fast pace, then you can have a bright future with good benefits.

HR is overall very good, with lots of employee events and community outreach as well.

Too many projects, not enough time, and a mistaken belief that more employees lead to faster development. This, combined with extremely aggressive program managers, leads to overworked and stressed engineers.

Another issue is the inefficiencies of working here: tons of meetings and emails, leaving one with not enough time to get actual work done.

What's more, this is a very process-heavy organization. While there are improvements being made to automate some of these, it will be a long time before working here becomes less than a painful exercise.

Finally, there are far too many ASML-specific guidelines for software development (from coding standards, language use, architecture), which lead to a long learning curve and many non-transferable skills.

Keep scope of work and effort required in mind before promising deliveries. And make software development easier.