Pros: It's a good starting company.

Cons: It is hard to get a full-time transition from a contract role.

Pros: Despite recent slashes in health insurance benefits, it's still pretty good. No premiums are always good, even if the deductible is very high. 401k match is superb, with plenty of low-fee funds (read: Vanguard) available. ESPP is amazing, with a 15% discount with look-back. Depending on the team you're in (read: not division but actual team), you might have relaxed deadlines. This heavily depends on the quality of code that the team has. Teams with crappy code deservedly do a ton of firefighting. HR is very good about raises. They make an effort to adjust your salary to market (in addition to inflation) without you asking. Bi-annual bonuses are offered in both cash and stocks (RSUs). Most people honestly enjoy working here.

Cons: - Lots of layoffs recently, job security is iffy. - Company profitability on a downward trend. - Benefits getting slashed recently, as the new CEO is not very employee-friendly at the moment. - Again, depending on the team you're in, you could deal with really crappy code that will make your job soul-sucking. There is a ton of legacy code being maintained with no intent to erase technical debt. This is *not* a software company. The policy generally is: if it works, ship it. On a flip side, there are teams with superb code. The quality of code varies drastically by team. - Pay is average. The benefits probably make up for it. - Middle management makes waaay too much money (in bonuses) compared to doing work. Not to mention, the management vs low-level peons seems to be a 50/50 split, which is just astonishing, given that they are relatively hands-off the products. - Performance review isn't merit-based. If you could prove P=NP in your first review, you'll only get a 3.5/5. On the flip side, you could take a dump on your manager's table on your 6th review and you'll still get a 5/5. Scores are manipulated to show "improvement" across reviews and do not reflect the amount of work you've done.

Pros: Good work-life balance at Qualcomm.

Cons: Less total pay at Qualcomm