I'm in the same boat here. I worked for a Fortune 500 corporation for the first 3.5 years after college, and for the most part I was just putting in my 8 hours. I enjoy software development, but the atmosphere and mentality at this business didn't encourage you to go the extra mile. If you said, "Man, I love this company," people would give you strange looks, probably suspecting you of being a suck-up. There was a lot of "us-vs-them" mentality with regards to the regular employees and managers. On top of all that, the systems and teams were so huge that you could only get so far ahead with your work before you had to stop and wait for the "marathon, not a sprint" types to catch up. All in all, it was discouraging, and it started to kill my passion for developing great software.
Earlier this summer, I quit that corporate job and joined a 10-person tech start-up with highly-motivated, smart, and optimistic employees. Everyone believes in the business's potential, and we all strive to make our work better and better. There are no set hours (whatever is most efficient for your lifestyle), and vacation is unlimited. Combined with a small, motivated workforce, these policies result in an environment where developers no longer feel like children doing chores but trusted professionals who can handle their own responsibilities and work/life balance.
All that to say: Life after college can vary greatly depending on how you make your career choice. You can take the corporate job if you like, but I love working for a smaller business with flexible policies and motivated co-workers working hard to change the future.
I think as a general rule, I do agree with this. When you don't have mandatory vacation, you start asking yourself the question, "Should I really time off work?" Motivated, hard-working people have a hard time saying "yes" to that question. So far, we've all taken time off for vacation this past summer, and we're getting a couple weeks for Christmas, but I can see how such a system could have negative impacts.
In the financial sector, there are regulations requiring a minimum consecutive absence.
> It is the FDIC's goal that all banks have a vacation policy which provides that active officers and employees be absent from their duties for an uninterrupted period of not less than two consecutive weeks. http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/1995/fil9552.html
Earlier this summer, I quit that corporate job and joined a 10-person tech start-up with highly-motivated, smart, and optimistic employees. Everyone believes in the business's potential, and we all strive to make our work better and better. There are no set hours (whatever is most efficient for your lifestyle), and vacation is unlimited. Combined with a small, motivated workforce, these policies result in an environment where developers no longer feel like children doing chores but trusted professionals who can handle their own responsibilities and work/life balance.
All that to say: Life after college can vary greatly depending on how you make your career choice. You can take the corporate job if you like, but I love working for a smaller business with flexible policies and motivated co-workers working hard to change the future.