Corporate backgrounder

I have worked/contracted for 10 different companies over my 17 year "career". Out of those 10 I would have to say that only 3 were truly somewhere I would recommend anyone else to go. 4 of them were large cap companies. Do you think any of the 3 good ones were included the 4 big ones? Nein.

These big companies were all bloated with bureaucracy and politics to the point where unless you fit in the mold of their "ideal" employee, you will never be successful or financially rewarded. Don't get me wrong. They will still love you to death. They need you. They need all of you little gerbils to keep running as fast as you can and for as many hours in the day that you can stand. They need you to keep their big mechanical 2 ton gorilla moving.

They will keep feeding you with little $20 gift cards and little "atta boy" recognition e-mails or printouts that you can put on your gray cube wall. It's analogous to giving a new pet a biscuit when he can finally poop outside instead of on the carpet. "That's a good boy! Here's a little treat. Now go sit in your gray doggy basket and don't bother me while I go enjoy my prime rib and watch the game on my 60" flat screen."

So you worked your butt off for 20 bucks? Granted, they often provide a decent base salary. But you will notice while the salary of those colleagues who started at the same time and level you did snowballs, you get either no raise or a raise that doesn't even come close to the rate of inflation. Those colleagues fit the mold of what they company really wants. They breed and reward managers and grand standers.