AT&T

• Extremely diverse opportunity; the company makes it relatively easy to shift around to different roles and departments.
• The company provides opportunities for continued learning, both internally and through third-party schools.
• Leadership is fairly accessible.
• The company provides a limited amount of services at large locations (banking, dining, etc.).
• A workplace that values racial diversity.
• Has some programs that are truly cutting-edge technology.

• Though I clearly communicated my area of interest, that seemed to have no effect on my job slotting. I was given work that was uninteresting to me and to which I could contribute less.
• Educational opportunities provided are expected to be worked on in personal time.
• Educational opportunities are only available through some schools, with some amount of personal cost still involved. AT&T thinks it's ahead of the game to offer such opportunities, but vast amounts of software development employers will pay for further education.
• Being a large corporation means lots of managerial overhead and red tape to get anything done.
• The large size of the corporation means that while there are a handful of exceptional workers, the vast majority of developers at AT&T are mediocre at programming and are only working here because they didn't get offers from any other firms. It seems like the kind of place people work as a backup, but nobody really wants to work at.
• Workspaces can be archaic and old with poor ergonomics.
• Working from home is frowned upon and not allowed in many groups.
• Workplace laptops are extremely large; personal devices cannot be used.

Overall, the biggest disadvantage about AT&T is that, because of its incredible size, it is slow-moving and inflexible.

• Remove excessive red tape.
• Seek out truly exceptional talent that knows how to program better than most (aim for about the 75th percentile, as the current percentile seems to be about 35).
• To hire truly exceptional talent, AT&T will have to compete as an employer with companies that offer their employees more. This means higher wages, but also more time set aside to learn (and be paid for it), more services at large locations, and most significantly, an amount of flexibility that allows employees to work in the ways that they can be most productive.
• Learn from Google (and similar companies). Study the way they select employees, and the way they treat employees (and approach leadership structures), and try modeling this within AT&T. Maybe that just starts with one group, but start somewhere. You'll see it succeed and then continue to take it through the rest of the company. It will cost more, but it will prove to be a worthwhile capital investment.