Epic Systems

Management with farsighted plans, no needless crushing or controlling policies, that takes social responsibility issues pretty seriously.

Whimsical campus (sadly, that fades into the perceptual background pretty fast, but it keeps popping back up as a plus too) and delicious food.

Many bright and engaging coworkers.

There is a rat race, but participation is strictly optional (in fact, not really an option in the QA role).

QA is the lowest-stress role, with hours typically 40-42/wk, and a maximum of 50 in stressful moments.

Epic will tell you they're special, different from other companies, etc. They have a tendency to exaggerate their good deeds and policies, and there are many people around who swallow it uncritically. If you are bored by white and Asian yuppies, you'll find yourself very sad here.

Specific to the QA role, pay is low and increases slowly, and the role is not really respected by other roles. The chances of transitioning the work you do from boring things to interesting things are pretty low; odds are you'll test software day in and day out as long as you stay at the company.

Specific to me, I am infected with Generation Y special yuppie-ism. It is a lifelong and incurable infection. I studied beautiful and interesting things in college, and only came here after a year of failed applications to more interesting jobs, with the knowledge that grad school is a horrific economic trap. I despise testing software, my motivation levels fall and fall, and I probably will not be able to hold my job here much longer. If you are a more hardworking person than I, you may last longer, but your attitude will steadily get grimmer. If you are more like me and unable to beat yourself into doing boring things day in and day out, you will probably end up one of Epic's demoralized and ineffective liberal arts grad QAers who thought they were above doing a job robots will one day be able to do, and whether you're invited to leave will depend solely on the whim of your immediate manager.

I'm sure you get a lot of more generally applicable advice from better writers than me. So I'll stick to an issue specific to me: be warned, intelligence tests and looking at people's college records won't warn you that some people's heads are just irredeemably in the clouds. No amount of doing a little good or having a little fun or making a little money will pull them down.

The work to be done does not line up with human interests. You would be wise to inform yourself of this fact before the desperate battle you face in motivating your employees.

Also, get over yourselves and get some perspective. You're good at what you do, but so are many people. You got lucky. Many people equally talented are your underlings, their talents kept in check by the endless supply of mindless things they have to do.