Interesting... I actually worked for them back in 98/99. Where did you interview?
The office I worked at was formerly Microcom, and had been acquired by Compaq shortly before I started. Early on, it was still very much a Microcom atmosphere, and I loved working with such creative and brilliant people in such a (relatively) small environment. Everybody knew mostly everybody else, there didn't seem to be much friction (that I could tell), and opportunities for learning and growth abounded for a young guy like me (college co-op). My time there during that period shaped what my ideal working environment was.
After about, say, six months the corporate hooks began to take a firm hold. The opposite of a college campus. Lots and lots of red tape, waste (projects that people had spent years working on suddenly just scrapped and equipment junked), and commands from afar. Most of the real talent left to begin new companies. Around the same time is when Compaq started buying up other companies, including DEC. Talk about an unhappy marriage. Our manager left, and was replaced by a guy from DEC who told us, flat out, that he didn't want anything to do with our team, we are an inconvenience to him, and the less he hears from us the better. It became a very sad, monotonous place to work. During this period (now as a part-time, hourly employee as I finished school), my wide-eyed optimism was tainted by a heaping dose of reality and cynicism. I ended up leaving for a consulting job briefly before following my former Compaq manager (not the DEC guy) to a software company that during my time there followed a very similar arc without the benefit of being bought out by a larger entity.
I have spent much of my career trying to find the happy medium between the two two extremes. Not sure one exists, but at least I'm pretty happy where I am now.
