Pros
I love my job at Design Imports. It’s astounding to consider how much I’ve learned and achieved since I started here a couple of years ago. I’ve worked at places that lavished employees with exceptional benefits and resources, but then laid people off in droves as soon as revenue fell short due to poor business decisions. Or, the companies completely changed course (and culture) as soon as someone new was hired at the top. At this point in my career, I’m more interested in a company’s financial security and the stability of its leadership than employee benefits. DII is profitable and growing, and now that the dust has settled from some major acquisitions over the past five years, it’s in a position to focus on its core strengths, and that's what it's doing.
DII is more of a “bootstraps” kind of company than what many people (especially younger people) might expect . In other words, you won't see MacBook Airs on every desk, nap pods, or free ORCA cards. From my perspective, people choose to work at DII because it offers upward mobility, friendly co-workers, a casual environment, and interesting products to make/sell/support. You’ll need to be confident in your professional abilities and you’ll have to work hard to achieve success here, but if that’s your MO, you’ll be fine. And of course, it all depends on who you report to and how you handle challenging personalities, who exist in every organization. Thankfully, I work with amazing people and my dealings with managers have been entirely positive, despite the occasional professional disagreement.
I should also note that you don't see many people burning the midnight oil at DII, which I think is a good sign. Most employees seem to have a good work/life balance, and work expectations are reasonable.
Cons
There really aren't many stores or restaurants within walking distance of the main office, so if you commute by bus, be sure to bring a lunch or ask others for a ride. On the flipside, since the office is in the Southcenter area, there are tons of restaurants and stores within a 2 mile radius.
