Company: Oracle
Date: 2020-09-16
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Confirmed

MIXED... depends on geography, project, and whether you are "Oracle native"
Pros: * Education benefit (tip: Just be sure the _degree_ is approved, then your requirements+prerequisites are covered.. but not electives)
* Inclusive, positive culture. You wouldn't know the management is pro-Trump.
* Mostly good technology and you can learn a lot about security and best practices.
Cons: * Mentoring and career help is only enabled by your direct manager.
* Oracle looks to startups as a way to acquire talented engineers, who are then locked in to their roles at rates well-outside the Oracle "pay band"
* Seattle is another dimension... despite having EXACTLY the same cost of living as Boston, wages and titles are grossly inflated to protect the Seattle offices from becoming "provincialized".
** if you Bartend, you will witness this. Savvy candidates can negotiate for a +1 on their job title. I interviewed what could only be an IC2, for an IC3 slot, and HR pushed for agreement because the market was tight. Candidate didn't know UDP from TCP, but had Security clearance.
* If you are acquired
** you'll work a lot harder to advance (and you'll be in a queue).
** you will be "outside the pay band", with raises based off your old "startup" pay.
*** ... you'll train new hires on your team who get 50% more in direct pay. 
*** For example, 90% of Dyn engineers were given "IC3" rank (3-5 years experience level)
*** The smart employees quit, then come back after the 2 year hiatus, then are eligible for normal OCI compensation and rank they'd _never_ get if they stayed 5 years.
* The education benefit is worded discouragingly, and so has a low rate of adoption.