“My young nerds, here's the deal:”
Take control of your image, your branding, from the beginning. It even includes how you dress, since people judge you that way.
Decide on a small versus large company; I'd recommend small, starting out. (It was a mistake for me to start with IBM.)
If you go large, do what you can to identify the teams or silos, and decide where you want your ambitions to go. Might be happier to find the people who want to do the job well. Bear in mind that the ambition-focused tribes might find it useful to destroy the tribes who believe in good product; that's happened to me, maybe more than once.
You, my nerd, are responsible for your career. Take charge of it.
LinkedIn article (2014)