Intuit

Large, successful software company with recognizable, trusted brands. Top talent. Innovative. Design-driven. Customer-focused. Good pay, good benefits. Founder, Scott Cook, is amazing, and CEO, Brad Smith, is amazing. Both are very approachable and engaging. Had great annual Create the Offering (CTO) conferences. Very nice campus. Great cafeteria and nice fitness center with free weights, machines, cardio equipment, and group classes.

TurboTax Managers/directors are not trained well. Many managers in technical departments aren't technically trained and don't understand why it takes so long to write code. The layers between the C-level execs and the individual contributors are the company's weak middle. We need better leaders in the core. Maybe even get rid of a couple of layers of middle-management. They just get in the way of productivity in most cases. Performance reviews are a joke.

One year I worked my arse off, had huge successes, and even drove a project that saved the company $12 million and got a 'needs improvement.' The next year, I didn't work half as hard and didn't have near the accomplishments, yet I received the highest rating plus the highest bonus I was eligible to get. It made no sense.