Southern California Edison Co.

Why you want to work there

Top 10 ranking: No. 9 for training This California utility gives employees regular boosts up the career ladder. Its job rotation program, for example, helps prepare participants for more senior roles by pairing them with mentors who help them set performance goals and establish development plans. At the end of each assignment, employees can choose to apply for other positions or be placed in another rotational assignment. Work/life balance is more than a catchphrase at Southern California Edison: The company allows employees to work flexible hours or telecommute if they need to; it also gives them the opportunity to purchase additional vacation time through biweekly payroll deductions. Each year, the company allocates a dollar amount in credits that employees use to pay for themselves or members of their immediate families to join fitness centers or participate in organized sports such as cheerleading, tennis, basketball and football. IT smarts: Last year, the IT training department developed new courses in project management, process management and improvement, systems engineering, consulting and partnering, leadership, regulatory awareness, information security, and SAP end-user and support team skills. Plus, training was offered in courses on job-essential topics such as system architecture, integration tools, telecommunications and the company's various computing platforms. IT employees also completed mandatory training in ethics and compliance, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulations, diversity and safety.