Discover Financial

1. 5 weeks of starting PTO and 1 personal day.

2. Extremely well-run company from an overall financial perspective. This means the company isn't going out of business anytime soon. Minimal layoffs during bad economies compared to other companies (so far).

1. Once you are hired at a specific title, it is almost impossible to be promoted ever.

The outgoing CIO, Amir, has made significant changes such that it is virtually impossible to be promoted. Anyone who claims to have been promoted had to work crazy hours, brown-nose, and go through the same interview process as with other external hires.

1. Very frequent 24/7 production support, since Cognizant was able to negotiate support out of their contracts.

2. No opportunity for realistic growth due to the outgoing CIO Amir's Dreyfus model. You can lead multiple engineering teams and build cutting-edge systems, but there is no chance for promotion. Management will only focus on those who speak the most in meetings.

3. Pay is tens of thousands below standard market value. Management is willing to let people leave for other companies and will not match the salary.

Take time to get to know your employees, whether they are quiet or noisy. Try to understand their positive impact on the team, even if they are not working 90 hours a week.