Pros
I will preface this review with a statement you need to heed when reading this review as well as any reviews for this company -- "It depends on your area."
This is a GIGANTIC company and YMMV depending on your group. Keep that in mind when reading.
Anyway, I've been here only 6 months, but I think I have enough of a feel for Optum to write a review.
The positives:
Great work/life balance: I never have to stay late, work on weekends, etc. I get 23 vacation days and my manager encourages me to use them AND completely unplug while away.
Beautiful office: I work at the new Optum office in Eden Prairie. Building is modern and comfortable. Full size gym and locker room, and workout classes. Great parking ramp with a skyway so you never need to go outside in the rain or snow!
Work from home: VERY progressive with WFH! I can work from wherever I want. if I want to WFH one day, I can. If I want to WFH the whole week, I can do that, too. No one questions you.
Total autonomy
No drama: This is a very heads down place! I can't stress that enough. No one socializes with each other -- most of the time, you never even talk to your cube neighbors (because they're probably working from home). This is a positive for me though -- after working in some high drama offices, this is a refreshing change.
All meetings are over webex: Great news if you hate in-person meetings like I do -- because there are very few! In the 6 months I've been here, I've had 4 in person meetings. This is also a con because you never meet your coworkers - read the con list for more info.
30 minute "best practice" meeting times: You will not get invited to 2+ hour meetings, ever. Nearly all meetings are only 30 minutes. You might have the one-off meeting that's an hour, but it's rare.
Good, standardized PM practices. But some of the documentation requirements are too rigid and can slow progress down. Our group is trying to move to 100% agile. Slowly.... All of my projects so far have been waterfall SDLC. Although as a new person, it would help to have a PM to shadow on some of these documentation/audit practices. I've had to learn as I go.
- Great cafeteria with cheap prices. I can get a lunch here cheaper than I can bring it from home.
-Very engaging training classes!!! All training classes are over LearnSource (i.e. your computer) but the videos are well done and entertaining.
Cons
-Building seems empty because so many people WFH. It's almost kind of...sad. Such a nice building but no one is there.
-Internet explorer is the browser of choice. Yuck. You have to have special permissions to download Google Chrome or Firefox on your computer.
-If you like socializing with your coworkers, this is NOT a place for you! I can't stress that enough!! You will NOT meet your new BFF here. Everyone is very heads-down and focused on work -- no one chit chats about football or True Detective! You will not have coworkers stopping by your desk (to chat about a TV show OR to even chat about work). Most of my days, I don't talk to anyone in person. It's kind of depressing -- and I'm an introvert! There are no happy hours, social events outside of work, etc (this is a positive for me because I hate that stuff).
-Lots of contractors. Not that it's a bad thing - I've had great experiences with the PM contractors. They obviously don't last as long as the employees, and there's more contractor PMs than employee PMs.
-Difficult, as a new person, to know "who's who." There is no face-to-face meetings, so as a PM, it's tough to know who does what, since there's no face to put with the name. I struggle with this a lot, as I'm not used to this extreme of a "remote" workforce!
-No wifi for your phone. Wifi is only available for visitors and you must have a user name and password.
-Nearly all social media websites are blocked. Not really a con, but something you might want to know. You won't be browsing facebook at work!
-LOTS of meetings. Sure, the meetings aren't in person, they're over Webex, but you will have a LOT of them.
-Some "know-it-all" ego-driven coworkers, especially on the tech side. But this is typical of IT in general. I've witnessed this at every org in which I've worked.
