Company: Oracle
Date: 2009-01-13
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current

Life on the inside is only as dull as you want it to be.
Pros: There is nothing quite like being on the inside. Access to uncensored bug and Service Request information, development sites and product development personnel, opportunities to participate in beta tests. Growth through acquisition means there are new potential areas to explore all the time, and what's best is that they come to you, and naturally are best of breed.

Some of the brightest and hardest working people that I've ever come across work at Oracle.
Cons: It's a behemoth. There's a desk manual but each global centre tends to do things its own way. Everything is driven by statistics and we all know about lies, lies, and more statistics. Immediate management tend to be drawn from the workers themselves, and as such often don't get the respect that management deserves; they are also stuck between a rock and a hard place - the people they manage were once peers and friends, but now they have to do The Management Thing and that's not easy if it means reprimanding a buddy. And guess what ... the buddies know it.

Oracle is also a place where the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Make some noise, get some attention. Don't expect to get recognised for your brilliance alone.

Some of the thickest and laziest people that I've ever come across work at Oracle.