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      Instrument

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      Instrument reviews

      3.1

      59% would recommend to a friend

      (79 total reviews)
      avatar

      Laurel Burton

      13% approve of CEO

      17% positive business outlook

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Instrument has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 79 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Instrument employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media & Communication industry (3.7 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      79 reviews
      5.0
      Oct 14, 2020

      So thankful for my time there

      Senior developer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      I would not be where I am in my career without my time at Instrument. Here are a few of the things I have treasured most from my time there: Instrument embraces learning and experimentation. At the beginning of my career I didn't know what I wanted to focus on or specialize in. I was able to take on so many different projects and learn back-end development, mobile development, front-end development, interaction design and how to create high fidelity prototypes with the appropriate tools and technology. Because I was able to go over all of the board I was able to find what I was the most passionate about and what exactly I wanted to focus my career on. I was given the opportunity from early in my career to lead projects and communicate regularly with the client. Being hired as a Jr and being able to talk to clients right away made me feel empowered and helped me learn important skills in my career in technical communication. Instrument pushed me to always take things to the next level. What movement could we add to make something feel that much better? How do we optimize performance so interactions run seamlessly? Instrument has a high bar for what should be put out in the world which really makes you refine your skills and pushes you to constantly learn. Working on so many different clients and types of work I learned how to assess the right tool for the right job. What technologies to use when building something. How to scope out work to allow room for optimizations. When to use code for a proto vs use a tool like Origami. It taught me to be flexible and not to be afraid to fail. I started something only to realize later that the path I initially took was not the best route and I was able to scrap my work and start fresh with the insight I had gained. It really feels like a family. I have made some of my best friends at Instrument and have felt so welcome by those in it. In the beginning of the year I had to help my family in Peru. Instrument let me work remote in order to do so and then when the borders closes unexpectedly with covid and I got stuck there, leadership rallied by contacting the governor and their lawyers to help get me on an embassy flight home. I don't know many other places that would do that for their employee. I hold Instrument in the highest regard.

      Cons

      Scope can be tight so you need to have good boundaries for proper work life balance. I have heard others mention that it felt cliquey, if you feel this way I say just reach out to others on your team and try and get to know people individually. I found everyone I have met through Instrument to be welcoming and kind and it might just be that people are heads down on the work.

      avatar
      Instrument Response
      5y
      Thank you for this feedback, and the time you took to express the many ways you felt supported by Instrument in your time with us. We appreciate your note on the necessity of boundaries to maintain good work life balance, and your suggestions for building relationships. We will also continue to work internally on both of these items so everyone feels the support they need in navigating the work, and establishing the community they deserve at Instrument.
      1.0
      Sep 14, 2020

      Some great people with terrible leadership

      Designer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Some truly talented and humble people. The work is generally executed at a very high level and you'll work with some of the best brands out there.

      Cons

      Leadership at an executive level is arrogant and disconnected from the rest of the business. Some longer tenured employees have an outsized influence on the culture and while leadership generally talks a good game, they very rarely follow through with action. The environment is particularly toxic for women and BIPOC which is made all the worse because they claim to care so much about creative a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. Instrument is also very "Portland centric" which means it is actually completely disconnected from the tech companies that comprise the bulk of its client base.

      3.0
      Sep 12, 2020

      Extremely talented employees, good work/life balance, horrible communication from management

      Developer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      - I've met some of the smartest, most talented, and most caring people at Instrument. - Generally very flexible with time off/sick leave. - Competitive benefits. - A lot of employees are asking for and actively working on creating meaningful change within the org.

      Cons

      There's a BIG disconnect between leadership (specifically those in executive leadership) and those of us working with each other in team/client environments. This has created a lot of tension between leadership and everyone else and I can't see things changing unless there is some change in leadership. I can see that they are trying to understand what the issues are and how to solve them... after all, technically speaking, Instrument is better than a lot of other agencies that claim to care about their employees. But better doesn't mean anything if the standard for "better" is so low.

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      Glassdoor has 97 Instrument reviews submitted anonymously by Instrument employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Instrument is right for you.