A Gold Mine of Benefits and Opportunity Currently Buried by Bureaucracy & Fear
Pros
The benefits package is great. The health insurance is a broad package, great prescription benefits, and they offer vision and dental coverage that (unlike many plans) is actually cost-effective and affordable. They have a nice 401k and stock option plan. The training resources available are numerous, constantly evolving, and readily accessible. The company name is globally recognized, and therefore can provide a nice "stamp of approval" on a resume. On the tech side, there are many telecommunication innovations occurring, and there could be a great deal of learning opportunities for someone wanting to be a part of that innovation. Verizon strongly prefers to hire/promote from within, so getting your foot in the door in any job capacity will give you a leg up on future jobs and promotions.
Cons
It is a rocky company right now. It is facing a lot of competition and has seen its recent (and very expensive) efforts wind up being far more costly and time-consuming than it planned, and it has been taking a beating on customer relations. This all leads to a very cutthroat environment, because everyone is frightened of losing their jobs to the next round of RIFs (or "remapping" or "reorganization efforts"). Management is tight-lipped about developments and changes, because of a rampant fear of (a) giving away any power they might have by having that information, and (b) employees making decisions based upon that information that would not benefit that particular manager (opting to switch to a different department, for instance). The long-timers at Verizon seem to offer an across-the-board consensus that while Verizon used to be a model company for which to work, it has taken a severe nosedive, and has become the stereotypical management-versus-employees, everyone's-afraid-of-the-big-bad-RIF situation. It is a very red-tape, cutthroat organization right now, and it takes a certain personality to succeed in it--that may be a pro or a con, depending on whose evaluation you're reading, but for me, it is a definite negative.
