Pros
Great People: The vast majority of the people I've worked with are conscientious, dedicated, flexible, and committed to meeting challenges with a positive attitude. Those who are not do not stay long, especially in the quickly changing field of IT. Great Benefits: Competitive Health Care Package, 401K matching to 5%, lots of optional extras like Vacation Buy Program, Legal Plans, Wellness centers, On-site daycares, etc. Work/life balance is achievable, so long as you're not trying to fast-track your way up the corporate ladder. If you are, then you better put in the hours. Challenging Work: Kohl's is investing in technology, so it's an exciting time to be in IT if you like change and can deal with ambiguity. There are a lot of frustrations that come along with this, but ultimately if you can keep your eye on the prize there's a lot of opportunity.
Kontras
Politics: As with most large organizations, there is a lot of politics and bureaucracy, so it helps to be adept at finding ways to be effective when you can't always be efficient, and you'd better have top-notch people skills. It's evident that performance has not been the key measure of success and promotion, but that seems to be gradually changing. Silos: There is a closing gap between the silos in the organization, yet there's still quite a chasm that results in lost efficiencies and effectiveness. Often there are multiple teams working on related initiatives who can't see the forest for the trees, so the wheel gets re-invented a lot. It's not surprising to find hundreds of different unintegrated applications performing related functions in different ways for different teams, and none of them coming together to tie a process together effectively. Matrices: The IT shop attempts to matrix most teams, yet does not invest the money and time into the tools and processes necessary to support that approach. Handling the constant turnover with consultant teams requires vigilantly maintained knowledge capital to allow quick ramp-up and retention, but that is sorely lacking so far and it causes a lot of cost overhead frustration for teams who hit the ground running, only to be left spinning their wheels.