Intel

• Profit sharing

• Stock purchase plan (discounted)

• 16% night shift differential

• Compressed work week

• Motivated and driven individual contributors

• Fast-paced work in a well-respected company (looks great on your resume)

• Worksite has a cafe, workout equipment, employee lounge, etc.

• Most work groups are committed to work/life balance.

Intel is a young person's dream opportunity. Move around as much as you can. Don't be dazzled by the glitz; staying at Intel too long is a strategy that may hurt your long-term career goals.

The work environment has been politicized since the adoption of the "engineering lead" model versus operations managers.

Cost cutting begins with workforce reduction.

Advancement requirements and opportunities are not clearly defined. Prepare to get in the queue to pucker up.

There is obvious age discrimination; workers over 50 have a target on their back.

The company has long left the road of its original "core values" and work culture. It's no longer about the employees; it's about the bottom line.

Intel has repeatedly missed fantastic marketplace opportunities. Who is steering the ship? The cook?

Hourly employees have limited career opportunities.

Technicians, beware: In an effort to get equipment running again as soon as possible, you may be expected to throw parts at it to quickly get it back up to production. How much did you learn by doing that? You should have learned that it is costing Intel huge every hour that tool is not producing, and whether you get to actually troubleshoot it to find a defective module or circuit card is irrelevant to Intel. This is known in the industry, and former Intel techs have had to face this perception (that they can’t really troubleshoot) when job hunting after Intel.

Ethics is what is missing at Intel.

No, not the obvious ones, but the ones related to the character of the individual. (You know – those things you do when no one is looking.) That is where the deepest need is.

Unfortunately for you, the hiring manager, these characteristics won't be displayed until people settle into their job roles. That's why you should promote from within for all management positions, especially those levels that interact with EEs the most.

Your EEs are the wheels of the company. Engineers may be the "brains," but the folks in the trenches can screw you just as easily as you do them. Keep that in mind.

Patting them on the head and telling them they're your most valuable resource while cutting headcount and pay raises belies your words of praise.