NetApp

Great pay and benefits, challenging engineering problems, weekly beer bash, and a decent 'get things done' environment for a big company. Great place to start or end your career!

Being successful in engineering without politics is tough. There are a lot of cliquey, mafioso-type attitudes at the senior/principal engineer and technical director level; merit at that level seems based on who you know, not what you can get done.

Engineering environments are lagging, circa 1990. If you're looking to leverage new or open-source technologies, then, with a few exceptions, you should look elsewhere.

Don’t be so enamored with seniority. During my time, I worked with a lot of young talent with fresh ideas that were shot down by engineers in senior positions (for seemingly no reason other than maybe job protection).

Be wary of “cancer” masquerading as top engineers.