Autodesk

Autodesk is a powerhouse and is doing a lot of pioneering work in the digital design space, not only in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC), but in manufacturing, simulation, and even the media and entertainment space. It's pretty cool to work for the original PC solution for CAD!

• Benefits are top-notch
• Very interesting problems to work on in the AEC/geometry/cloud/manufacturing/simulation space
• Strong marketing and sales organization leading the charge
• Great people tend to work here, and you will be interacting with some top minds in the industry.
• Lots of mobility for motivated individuals
• Great office environments

Overall, if I had the chance to work here again, I would definitely take it.

This is a publicly traded company, and it brings along with it all the politics, headaches, and periodic "Reductions in Force" that accompany any big public company.

There's not much point in complaining about it. It's all the same thing that brings all the great benefits and opportunities to work on cool problems.

• You will find that innovation, while valued, is painful and slow. However, if you stick with it, there are definitely opportunities to innovate.
• You should be okay with not necessarily having your opinion valued on the larger picture items. There is a corporate direction, and that comes from the top, not the bottom, in this company. If you can be happy with that and are excited to tackle whatever challenge comes, you will be very happy at this company. If you have vision and want to try and make change outside of your group, you will likely be disappointed.
• I think you'll find Autodesk to be much like any large company. If you really want to be able to influence change in an organization, look for a small startup. I can't stress this enough: You will be successful here if you are happy doing your job as part of the big machine and not necessarily being able to see out to where you are going (regardless of what the "come work here" marketing hype suggests).
• That said, note that there is a lot of internal opportunity for motivated individuals. I've seen developers move to UI, QA people move to sales, and developers move to product management. There is a LOT of opportunity here.

I'd love to see management be better at helping people manage their career trajectories. Some are great, some others not so much.

Also, helping employees understand the implications of working in a large command and control organization and how to flourish in that environment.

Lack of this type of coaching can leave employees feeling underappreciated and treated like numbers instead of feeling like part of a well-oiled machine.

I don't necessarily think that the company needs to change; I just think there is an opportunity to get more training for the management staff, which I think can bring lots of benefits to the entire organization.