Siemens

None, none, none, none, none.

I feel the need to warn other software developers, in case they are tempted to take a job here.

I was forced onto a project based at Siemens (Ashby). I hated every second.

Firstly, if you are in any way seeking to acquire up-to-date technical skills through this work, then forget it. Their proprietary software is last century – literally. It's about 20 years old, including the use of their internally designed "programming" language. And I use the term "programming" very loosely. Learning this is absolutely no use outside Siemens.

The development processes are non-existent:

• Very basic source control.
• No unit testing.
• No peer reviews – you could commit just about any old garbage and it wouldn't get picked up until system test weeks later.

And all this was for the delivery of a multi-billion pound rail system.

The worst thing of all is the culture here: a closed-shop mentality, steadfastly refusing and blocking outside help, and unwilling to embrace new ideas. And the IT infrastructure support is poor beyond belief.

Taking a job here is the quickest route to developer hell, and possible insanity. Avoid at all costs, unless you are absolutely desperate!

Adopt newer technology stacks if you want to attract or keep your developers.