Vantaggi
The two major plusses: 1) I am so grateful to be able to work in the medical device industry and have a part in improving people's lives, and 2) really good benefits.
Svantaggi
Over the last 10 years, Medtronic has made the shift from a fast growing, small company with an emphasis on valuing their employees to a slow growing, international, bureaucratic big company interested primarily in the bottom line. Being a big company, you will find a wide varieties of workplace sub-cultures, some good, some not so good. Where I work, there is significant distrust between employees and most levels of management. This is the result, in part, of many years of layoffs, initiatives to "level" employees (demote those that are not performing, or invite them to leave), loss of unused vacation time (it's not paid out - it's lost), a huge increase in off-shoring (remember all those layoffs? Guess who got the jobs?), and more. I've experienced 5 years of 50-60 hour work weeks with no tangible benefit (except, perhaps, being able to keep my job). I have had requests for vacation denied, as well as requests for training. In 25+ years of employment, this is the worst employer for both work/life balance and supporting employee training. This is not the same company it was 10 years ago...