Pros
- Good place to start if you are young, have no family, and don't mind working overtime (with no additional compensation) - Benefits are decent and begin immediately, although you probably won't stay long enough to be vested in your 401K - Lots of leftovers from catered meetings for management - Casual dress code, providing another casual way to be looked down upon by your managers who are corporate go-getters, unlike you - Free coffee for long days and occasional weekends - Lots of events with free beer, as this place will drive you to drink
Cons
- Employees fall into two groups primarily: 1-2 years and old-timers. This should be a red flag that burnout is a major factor. - If you have a family or any health issues, I would not consider working here. The demands for overtime and criticism of unscheduled PTO for those not "favored" will make your time here miserable. - Open work space with directors speaking in "executive volume" on speakerphones makes good headphones an absolute necessity. Also, zero privacy. Prepare to be watched and have any phone call or momentary break criticized. - Reviews with management are frequently delayed and often cancelled. I rarely heard concerns until they were "major problems" and almost never was complemented for a job well done. - Compensation was less than exact same job at prior employer. Rubric for raises makes anything more than minimal almost impossible to achieve. - Be ready to work a job different from what you were told you were hired for. Surprise! - Frequent pointless Town Halls discussing the latest iteration of "The Plan." Prepare to listen to a good amount of Management in-jokes and re-caps of their latest offsite team builder. Enjoy your uncomfortable chair, as your Manager will force you to watch in an overheated conference room instead of streaming it at your desk, because they "don't want to look bad" to their higher-ups. - Be ready to take on additional projects when people leave and are not replaced. I was SME on 5 projects when I left. I could not devote adequate time to any of them and was constantly pressured on all of them. - Excrement rolls downhill, and QA is at the base of the hill. Be prepared to have to suck up to the fact that everyone else's delays result in you not getting anywhere near adequate time to test properly. God help you if you find a major problem that holds up a release date (even though it was the fault of those earlier in the development process).
