Pros
1) The company is growing, expanding. It's profitable, and energetic, and dynamic. It is rare to find a company where short-, mid-, and long-term prospects are good, and Farheap is one of those companies.
2) No ageism, sexism, racism. You will be judged on the basis of your accomplishments. Young and smart? Older and wise? LDS, Jewish, atheist, Baptist? Doesn't matter. If you bring good ideas to the plate, your contribution will be valued. I am living proof of that.
3) CEO is WYSIWYG. He does not put on airs, try to impress or flatter. If you put an idea or suggestion on the table, he will listen, engage you, probably argue with you, tear your idea to shreds. But he will listen.
4) The company has undergone a sea change in the past six months. We are consciously striving to put a corporate culture in place that will hire only the very best and brightest, that will encourage innovation and plain speaking, and that will keep us cutting edge. We have no tolerance for mediocrity, and because of that, we try to reward excellence.
5) There is probably not a company anywhere in the USA that works this hard on innovation and efficiencies. We happen to be focused on the print industry at present, and we love what we do and the beautiful products we produce. But we are always looking for ways to work smarter, in every aspect of corporate life.
6) Management works hard to bring everyone together, regardless of job title or seniority. Executive staff tries to learn names, faces, duties, and personalities of all employees, not just the "important" people. We believe *everyone* is important, whether customer service, production, accounting, design, or any other division.
7) There are few companies that celebrate diversity like we do. We have a subsidiary in Russia and affiliate in Germany, and are looking to put down roots in other countries as well. If we were to take a company photo, you would see every skin color, every religion (and no religion), every political persuasion, every sexual orientation, and both genders well represented. This is a conscious effort of management to make this happen.
8) I have mentioned innovation above. We look for people who think outside the box. Where other companies require thinking within corporate boundaries, our CEO and management try to find individuals who are self-confident, geniuses, hard working, and fun.
Cons
a) It is a demanding work environment. Working lean means small offices and small cubicles, few extravagant perqs, and small staffs in all departments.
b) Which in turn means long working hours for everyone. [Note: Even with long working hours, most people from customer service to production to accounting to management take full weekends off.]
c) Because of the devotion to innovation, if a parameter changes, it is likely that direction changes very fast as well. People who must work linearly and methodically do not function well in our environment.
d) We are a "disruptive" workplace.
e) Some jobs require better work spaces than are currently provided.
f) Benefits need to be improved. [We are working on it, but it's a slow process.]
