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Big Nerd Ranch

Is this your company?

was good but things changed - Ios Software Engineer Big Nerd Ranch Employee Review

2.0
Jul 31, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice, funny, friendly, intelligent employees. Opportunities to teach courses. Good work/life balance, very flexible schedules. CEO is a cool guy.

Cons

Pay was great, then structure of company changed and pay became mediocre. Projects were mostly terrible with bad clients. The worst projects were highest priority because the clients were paying the most. That said, this is not so different from most contract development agencies. Very smart employees are underutilized. Disengaged management. Many important execs were never around. A few important "untouchable" employees were jerks, which was even more off-putting considering how nice everyone else was. Merged with local web development company which negatively affected company culture. Office moved two locations in one year... but original office was the best of the three. Located in Atlanta, which is a terrible city but I suppose it might be a "pro" if you like Atlanta. Many good employees left during company merger transition period.

Explore other reviews about Big Nerd Ranch

5.0
Nov 1, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Fun culture. Friendly people. Excellent wlb.

Cons

None that I can think of.

2.0
Jul 18, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Big Nerd Ranch has a lot of smart individual contributors, and there are often technically interesting and challenging apps to work on. You can learn a highly marketable new skill on-the-job, and the experience you get there is a great preparation for companies that are looking to hire software developers with a few years of experience. The work/life flexibility is hard to beat, the coffee is top notch, and the lack of oversight means there is very little in the way of sharp people accomplishing great things.

Cons

Several years into the merger with Highgroove Studios, the management doesn't get it, doesn't care about the people or the culture, and is really only interested in the bottom line. Perks are cancelled when there is a lull in consulting business, layoffs have happened only for hiring to pick back up the next month when work speeds up, and if you don't know what you're worth when applying, your offered salary will be a lot lower than other people there with similar experience to you. If you want to grow your career, you aren't given any direction or resources, and if you aren't teaching a class or writing a book, you probably should have your things packed.

7
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