General Motors

I started three months ago. I enjoy going to work every day. I’m new to Austin and didn’t know anyone before moving here.

My move was completely paid for by GM. I’ve made a tight group of friends at GM, and our circle is growing. I haven’t met anyone I’ve disliked or didn’t want to work with.

I started with a lot of other new college hires, so everyone is kind of in the same situation. I’ve been fortunate in the work that I’ve been doing. It’s pretty much exactly what I wanted: web development.

I know others that were placed on a team doing a job that they wanted as well. I’ve done two in-person code reviews with senior-level guys, and those went well.

Teams can change, and people get moved around based on a manager’s decision or demand. This can be a better opportunity, but that isn’t always true.

They have a recognition program where lead developers can award points. I’ve been awarded points for working hard and identifying pitfalls in the project we were working on.

That leads me to another point I really appreciate. Since day one, my lead developer asked me my opinion on challenges in the current project. In meetings, we get a chance for our voice to be heard.

Overall, I’m really satisfied with my first full-time job out of college.

I know a new college hire that sometimes works till 8 p.m. and sometimes on weekends. I don’t know the specifics of why, but it seems a little off for a new college hire. My biggest complaint would be that I wish I was using modern JavaScript frameworks on my team. There is at least one team that does, just not mine.

Keep people on teams they enjoy working on and move others that don’t.