Pros
I started as an entry level Customer Service representative and through very hard work, persistence and my willingness to seek knowledge I earned my way in to a position on the development team. The free lunches on Fridays are great. Work-life balance is really good. The people in the company from management to the coworkers are amazing, friendly and very willing to help. That is probably the biggest plus that Optima has is how great the people are. The culture that the founding owners built in this company is exceptional.
Cons
The culture has changed dramatically since Optima was bought out and it has affected the mood and attitude of the employees. What was once perceived as a company that really cares about its employees is now being looked at as a company that only cares about profit and granted that is what every company cares about in the real world but Optima was different as, from time to time in the past, the founding owners would indeed sacrifice profits in order to make the employee experience better and that made you work even harder as an employee which in turn created a great product and great customer experience. I hope that the new ownership does not kill that great vibe that the founding owners created. Also, they are now bringing a ton of outside hires in executive positions and it seems like that is also a factor in the culture change as they are not connecting with the employees as well as the previous management team did.