Ok, it's been a while since the last post. Between Memorial Day weekend and starting my summer internship, things have been a little hectic. On Tuesday, I began working for "the Man," a Fortune 500 company specializing in technology. It's probably one you've heard of, but as with many things, I have to keep the name anonymous to avoid getting into trouble.
I've never really worked for "the Man." In high school and college, I had a few of the low-paid, low skill jobs with big companies but never anything on a full-time basis. I've spent most of the last ten years working for nonprofits and small startups. I should stress that I am not one of those individuals who believes that corporations are inherently evil, but I do think that the structure and environment of corporations makes them prone to evil by creating the wrong incentives. To say the least, I had some apprehension about working for a big company. (My apprehension, at least, is significantly less than my fiancee's - she has worked in corporate America her entire career. Knowing my tendency to spew off about corporate responsibility has left her on edge that I'm going to say the wrong thing and get fired!)
My apprehension wasn't helped by the fact that shortly before I started, the company was fined for obstructing a government investigation of improper bookkeeping. Unfortunately, my decision had already been made and into this corporation I must withstand ten weeks of service.
I've only been doing this for a couple of days so my observations might seem a little elementary for those who've been laboring under "the Man" for a while. "The Man" is a control freak. Security is of the utmost importance. I have two security devices to get me through the day. One is my electronic security badge, which must be worn at all times and must be fed into a reader when entering and exiting the building. The other is a little pager-looking device with six numerical digits that change every sixty seconds. When I access some parts of the corporate intranet, I have to submit an access code that includes these six digits. It seems a little paranoid.
In addition, the corporation monitors what websites are visited and what emails are sent. My boss informed me of this so that I wouldn't get into any trouble. He's not clear on what sites are restricted and the extent of the monitoring, however, any web-based email is completely blocked. There are a few occasions where the centralized control gets in the way - my division often has to do extensive research on other technologies and some of the sites that they visit are off-limits. They have to submit a business case for why they should get access and then they receive access through a limited server. Corporate America is certainly no bastion of liberty and freedom.
I went through an orientation, which I took with some interest, since this was the first representation of the company. What struck me was the explanation of the company's mission and values was completely underwhelming. It was surprising for me, and not just because of the contrast with the nonprofit world where mission and values tend to be inspiring. This is a company that has made a name for itself as a technology innovator. It's research scientists are among the top in the world and it's history of invention is second-to-none. It has every reason to be passionate about it's mission of pursuing the cutting edge of technology but I didn't get that sense at all. Hard to motivate new hires if you have no passion for the company yourself.
The HR person also instructed us about their Office of Business Conduct, formed to ensure that the company acts with the highest degree of ethical behavior, skipping mention of the government fine for obstruction of justice.
It's not all bad, though. It appears that there are a number of programs to help employees manage a good work/life balance. There are all sorts of programs to help employees like tuition reimbursement, adoption assistance, fitness centers, and other services. Of course, the money's pretty good.
I've got to get back to work, but more dispatches from "Man-dom" are sure to be forthcoming...
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