grocery store vs marketing company

2/1/2010 1:05:49 AM

Quote :

"15. NetApp Average total pay: $132,396""

So what is the median pay? Average doesn't mean a whole lot (unless there is an asterisk I'm missing that says excluding all executives).

2/1/2010 3:35:47 PM

i've always heard rumors netapp pays $$$$....their ranking on the list indicates that's true i guess

2/1/2010 3:40:29 PM

I have zach at netapp.com which is pretty nice. Easy to tell customers over the phone without having to rattle off a bunch of letters and punctuation.

2/1/2010 4:03:29 PM

Quote :

"since what a company produces has to be the only thing that makes it a great place to work and all"

I'm not at all referring to the product of a company, moreso the perks, benefits, and compensation package. To be fair, I haven't worked at that specific grocery store, but I have a VERY hard time believing they're even in the same ball-park.

Quote :

"grocery store vs marketing company"

Google definitely isn't a marketing company.

2/1/2010 6:44:43 PM

more of an advertising company than a marketing company

2/3/2010 10:59:49 PM

Quote :

"I'm not at all referring to the product of a company, moreso the perks, benefits, and compensation package. To be fair, I haven't worked at that specific grocery store, but I have a VERY hard time believing they're even in the same ball-park."

You don't know much about premium grocery stores then. Whole Foods is a pretty incredible employer in almost every aspect, and their employees largely share the same ideology as the company. Not everyone is technical. I have several long time friends who work for premium grocery chains and absolutely LOVE their jobs and the career path in front of them.

2/4/2010 12:16:11 AM

Also, just glad Microsoft made the list at #51

Free drinks, vacation rollover, the best comprehensive medical benefits I've ever seen, all kinds of discounts, free public transportation for the whole state. I can see why a lot of companies would rank higher (as the awesomeness of your work life can vary greatly by team and division) but damn if this place doesn't seem to be the land of opportunity.

2/4/2010 12:20:32 AM

^^

As already admitted, I don't. Not sure why you're bringing whole foods into the discussion. Are they also wholely representative of the 'premium grocery store' industry that I don't know much about? I think it's wonderful that you have long time friends that work for these companies and are excited about their career paths! I, too, have a countless number of friends that work at Google. I guarantee you they would be equally perplexed by this list.

How do you think the companies would stack up in terms of tangibles- comp, benefits/perks, retention, etc? I'm supremely confident goog would trump all of these categories.

How did this become a technical vs non-technical argument? There are some absolutely STELLAR non-technical companies on this list, none of which I'd argue with.

Please forgive me if I'm being a snob by drawing the conclusion of choosing that it might be more desirable to work for the most pioneering web company in history over a nameless grocery store. Despite my knowledge gap on Wegmans- that's a generalization I'm quite confident to stand behind. BTW, do any of your friends actually work for them, or are you strictly making generalizations on second hand knowledge here?

2/4/2010 3:42:33 AM

you do realize that this list is compiled by the feedback and ratings of the employees of each company

i guess you should go ask wegman's employees why they are happy?

2/4/2010 7:35:47 AM

^^ Whole Foods is what, #16 on the list? And I know people that work for Earthfare and Whole Foods.

Quote :

"How do you think the companies would stack up in terms of tangibles- comp, benefits/perks, retention, etc? I'm supremely confident goog would trump all of these categories"

The people I know get 3-4 weeks a year paid vacation, full medical, and plenty of food perks (it is a grocery store after all). They stay there because of the dedication to community and the environment, most of them are ultra-liberal hippy types. I don't have any numbers on retention, but I know that Google isn't anything special in that category.

But I do think it's interesting that Google is one of a handful of Fortune 500 companies that refuses the publish it's turnover and retention metrics. From second-hand sources and informal reading, they aren't any better than any other tech company at retention. And unlike other companies, I've yet to talk to or see writings from a former Googler who would ever go back.

2/4/2010 10:28:33 AM

^If I didn't feel like I had a better opportunity where I am right now, I'd go back in a heartbeat.

2/4/2010 2:00:07 PM

i think if your in the top 10 you're doing pretty damn good considering the number of places to work in this country

Quote :

"FIRST WORLD PROBLEM"

2/4/2010 5:02:26 PM

http://slashdot.org/story/10/02/04/210238/How-Infighting-Hampers-Innovation-At-Microsoft?art_pos=4

2/4/2010 11:12:43 PM

^ that shit happens at sas too.

2/5/2010 2:41:40 PM

Kind of surprised Goldman Sachs didn't make #1.

Do free drinks, free transportation really worth more than $500,000 bonuses?

2/5/2010 3:12:35 PM

they probably figure # of hours worked on average and that puts GS out of the running

2/5/2010 3:18:22 PM

i was kind of kidding. i think everyone would much prefer a balance.

2/5/2010 3:21:33 PM

w00t. Just got an offer from SAS.

Thought I would need somewhere to brag.

3/6/2010 6:42:28 AM

congrats!

3/6/2010 7:54:29 AM

sweet, doing what? ^^

3/6/2010 8:40:39 AM

Working in their Advanced Analytics Lab

3/6/2010 8:46:43 AM

See you soon! Who else from the Institute is going?

3/6/2010 2:27:12 PM

^^nice

3/6/2010 3:22:18 PM

tdub lunch in building F?

3/6/2010 3:50:37 PM

Only if there's nothing good at T.

3/6/2010 4:07:21 PM

I just applied to a couple consultant positions there...fingers crossed!

3/6/2010 5:13:47 PM

Quote :

"See you soon! Who else from the Institute is going?"

Dunno, yet. They made 7 offers, but I think half want them, half don't. We'll see in the next week or so.

Quote :

"tdub lunch in building F? "

Sounds like a blast. I heard the food is pretty solid.

[Edited on March 9, 2010 at 12:08 AM. Reason : ]

3/9/2010 12:06:48 AM

what is The Institute?

3/9/2010 12:58:07 AM

Quote :

"Sounds like a blast. I heard the food is pretty solid."

yeah, it's usually pretty good. R is normally BS and T is usually at least a little bit healthier than what's in F.

3/9/2010 2:45:24 AM

^^^Only half? What, are they waiting for a different best place to work?

^^Institute for Advanced Analytics. An NCSU grad school.

3/9/2010 8:03:06 AM

Yeah who knows. I haven't accepted either (95% sure I will). I'm still talking to Capital One. I expect an offer from them on Friday.

They chose a really good group of 7 kids, they are tough and competitive to get and I think most of us could get significantly more money. The thing about me is I'm from this area, and it's really the only local job looking at me.


[Edited on March 9, 2010 at 8:08 AM. Reason : ]

3/9/2010 8:06:51 AM

I've heard some people say that the pay isn't good enough, but I don't get it personally. I'm making double what I was when I worked at NCSU, 10% more than what I was hearing for similar jobs in North Carolina, I get a 35-hour week, come and go as I please, have health insurance, free clinic, gym membership, great lunch for 3-4 bucks, and free breakfast half the time between fruit on Mondays and bread on Fridays. It was a slam dunk for me.

3/9/2010 8:48:42 AM

^I'll triple my part time salary. I think I'm going to love it.

Where you in the Institute?

3/9/2010 10:01:56 AM

Yeah, last year's class. There's 14 of us here, 8 working under Jin-Whan.

3/9/2010 6:30:29 PM

Do they do interesting work? everything but the work sounds sweet

3/9/2010 7:08:34 PM

statistics and analytics sound boring

3/9/2010 8:30:39 PM

Quote :

"get a 35-hour week, come and go as I please, have health insurance, free clinic, gym membership, great lunch for 3-4 bucks, and free breakfast half the time between fruit on Mondays and bread on Fridays. It was a slam dunk for me."

qft

Quote :

"statistics and analytics sound boring"

that's why i'm glad we have departments that do just about anything you can imagine

3/9/2010 11:04:02 PM

i wonder if being raised in cary would get my foot in the door

3/9/2010 11:18:29 PM

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"statistics and analytics sound boring"

It has its moments, but I really enjoy it.

3/9/2010 11:37:53 PM

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"statistics and analytics sound boring are boring but are incredibly useful."

Being a Computer Science major, I don't have much room to talk about boring jobs, but I enjoy mine and it's also very useful. The enjoyment factor is what counts here

3/10/2010 12:50:20 AM

Quote :

"I get a 35-hour week"

Do you really only end up working 35 hour a week?

I mean I work at a typical company where 40 hours is the standard work week, but it's extremely rare that I work only 40 hours in a given week.

3/10/2010 7:37:13 AM

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"that's why i'm glad we have departments that do just about anything you can imagine "

Please explain. All the jobs listed on their website at the moment sound boring as hell.

3/10/2010 8:34:52 AM

Quote :

"statistics and analytics sound boring"

If you say so. It's a journey of discovery for me.

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"Do you really only end up working 35 hour a week?"

I usually go over 40 between staying late and remote desktopping off-hours, but that's mostly because I care and there's a lot to do. They couldn't do anything to me if I only worked 35. In fact, the CEO actively recommends it. In any case, the biggest thing is the flexibility. Compare this:

My friends at Detica: Fight Washington, DC traffic to get to office at 9. Go to some shopping center for lunch, get back in an hour, stay until 6 to put in the 8 hours, fight the traffic again.

Me: Get to desk at 9:15-ish, walk to the next building for lunch, get back whenever (usually 40 minutes), stay until whenever, usually 5:15-5:30. Go play basketball.

3/10/2010 9:04:01 AM

yeah, in this day and age, given all of the technology we have flexibility should not be an issue for most white collar jobs. I don't get how some companies are still stuck in the 8-5 or 9-6 daytight compartments mindset.

I couldn't handle that by virtue of never really having to deal with it. I roll in the office at my own leisure and leave whenever I can... usually i'm in by 8:30ish and out the door by 5-5:30ish, but i might leave for a couple of hours to work out. Or I might bust out of work at 3 to go do something fun, or sleep in and show up at 10. Most evenings I log in and catch up on work while watching TV.

All in all, I probably work 50-60 hours per week, but it does not all occur in the traditional 9-5 window.

3/10/2010 9:18:06 AM

Quote :

"My friends at Detica: Fight Washington, DC traffic to get to office at 9. Go to some shopping center for lunch, get back in an hour, stay until 6 to put in the 8 hours, fight the traffic again. Me: Get to desk at 9:15-ish, walk to the next building for lunch, get back whenever (usually 40 minutes), stay until whenever, usually 5:15-5:30. Go play basketball."

Which is why I did not interview with them.

3/10/2010 9:27:36 AM

it really depends. for a few months all my projects were so far ahead of schedule that I had nothing to do until people could catch up. I would have been hard pressed to document a week I put in more than 20 hours for a while. now that people have caught up, I'm putting in 40-45 hours a week, but I really enjoy what I'm doing and the downtime I earn by pushing so far ahead.

3/10/2010 9:51:13 AM