Growing faster than the company can handle
Pros
Company has positioned itself to grow very very rapidly by taking over other networks. There is a constant need for more ways to handle the information they get and to get a better idea of what's going on in the data. This was shown to me in the interview by the managers describing how they had risen quickly in the past two or four years. Company pays relatively well. Benefits included secured parking, on-site services like dry cleaning and oil changes, a health clinic, and a pretty good cafeteria. Company is probably the fastest-growing in the St. Louis area and if you want a Fortune 500 culture, it is definitely real there!
Cons
My advice to job seekers: first, make sure your job description is not just generic but is your actual job description. Two weeks in I realized that I wasn't doing what I had been told in the interview. When I complained, I was told we needed 6 months to a year to get there and it was good for me to learn the company's processes. Fine, but I wouldn't have left my old company if that had been the case. Second, make sure you meet your manager. I did and I liked my manager well enough, but many of my coworkers didn't. They were told they'd be hired into one group and then that would change. I understand things do change and companies re-org (my department had more than one in my brief time there) but it's a sign that the company is still adapting, painfully, to change. The single biggest problem I have with the company is its character. It is a Fortune 500 company that pays lip service to caring about its employees, yet everywhere I look I see people incredibly stressed-out and afraid. I've heard people say "Oh, morale isn't low, we're just all focused." I'd go to birthday celebrations and people would be so quiet, barely talking, just huddled in their little groups. People were AFRAID. There was definitely fear running through that company. The only ones who were happy there had either never worked anywhere else, or had worked at places with worse reputations like ExpressScripts. Working at Centene's HQ feels like being in a police state. Security makes a point that employees are the biggest security risk, and you are treated as such. People are visibly uncomfortable when security gets on the elevator with them - it's like being followed by a squad car for more than half a mile on the highway. Parking is secured, building is secured, floors are secured and elevator access is secured. Everything you do is tracked. If you access the wrong website (say you pull up a page with "SQL Injection") you'll get a phone call. If you miss a question on the ethics test you may get an email from HR. Every day I spent there felt suffocating. There is a huge separation between the VPs and senior management, and everyone else. Abuse of power, and of employees, is frequent. I've seen analysts come out of meetings with senior management in tears over missed deadlines. I thought we were past this, people, and it is ridiculous to see bullying tolerated. When I complained (and I complained often) I was told "oh, we're watching it, just keep focused on your work." Technology is surprisingly poor and the infrastructure controls make it difficult to get anything. When I signed on it took two weeks and no fewer than 20 distinct service requests to get all my applications and access points set up. There is minimal work-life balance. When you start you don't get paid time off for 90 days. If you need to take off because you're sick, you're told just to come in. People would come in with bronchitis and walking pneumonia because they had run out of sick days. Terrible. If you miss hours one day you come in on the weekend to make them up. If you work extra one day, maybe you get to leave a little early the next but don't tell anyone. And there's absolutely no remote work - you'll get flagged if you try to do anything other than check email from home.
