Company: Oracle
Date: 2009-01-13
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former

Oracle is a tough place, but it can be rewarding.
Pros: Oracle is an industry leader.  Because of the company's huge existing license footprint, the access that you get to accounts is impressive.  A lot of senior executives (from customers) will take the time to meet with you if you're from Oracle.  The company pays fairly well.   The power you can harness within the internal network is pretty remarkable.  If you need someone who is an expert on some facet of enterprise software, there is probably someone you can track down internally if you work hard enough.  Also, the caliber of the average Oracle employee is impressive.  You will definitely encounter talented, aggressive people that can teach you something.
Cons: Oracle is a very rough environment to work in.  The stress level is constantly high.  There is not a real sense of being collegial.  People are mostly very focused on their self-interests and they need to be in order to stay alive.   There tend to be a lot of emergencies where a situation runs up and down the management chain.  When this happens, life can be difficult.  There is not much of a mentorship culture at Oracle.  There are a lot of processes to follow, so it can be very difficult to get things done, even after you have learned the processes inside and out.