Verizon

The feel is much less corporate than I feared.

I'm in the engineering and technology dept (Device Technology), so the culture there is more relaxed than other parts of the building. It's a very lean team.

I'm one of two devs doing a suite of activities on the server side; thus, I'm a junior engineer with mid-level responsibilities. It's a lot of work, but it's greatly rewarding. There's lots of room for growth.

The best part of working on my team is that we feel like a startup with clear lines of communication and structure. This is wholly due in part to my team of lead architects, who are supremely competent and incredibly hardworking. They are strict but understanding, and have the patience to sit with junior devs and walk through their mistakes. That is a rare quality in a senior-level developer or engineer.

This is only true for my team specifically, so I cannot extrapolate to other teams at Verizon, but I have heard good things about other leads as well.

The food is very good, VERY health-conscious, and quite affordable. You can get a made-to-order grilled salmon steak with a side for ~$6.50, which is almost unheard of.

All onboarding in Wireless at the Basking Ridge office has to be done via contract first. Therefore, you will always start off with a step off compared to a traditional full-time role. Make sure you negotiate with your contracting firm aggressively for a good rate. You will have no benefits package or paid time off.

The culture within Verizon is a mixed bag. They are very environmentally conscious, which is great (there is composting within the cafeteria!). However, the culture is very insular. You rarely hear about the doings of high-level execs, and most of their decisions reach you via hearsay; they never reach public news. On top of that, teams are very political. Directors will joust for members on teams (I was almost poached by a team from a different division). Be careful where you tread.

To my own managers, nothing. To the heads at large, more transparency would always be appreciated. Less propaganda.