Pros
I love the people! From the first day I interviewed, I felt like these “ThoughtWorkers” could literally all be friends, not just colleagues. Everyone is very sharp, opinionated, and cares about making the world a better place (through technology, activism, and/or solidarity with worthy causes). Lunchtime conversations are always interesting and engaging.
I also really appreciate that the company considers very carefully who they will take in as a client; if it’s not in line with our values we may not take the work even if it’s lucrative. We also do a lot of pro- and low-bono work for nonprofits and cool social organizations; it’s fun and energizing to work on those projects but even when I’m not working on one of them, I know my billable work with corporate clients is going to help us do more work to make a difference in society.
I love how global the ThoughtWorks community is — we have offices in something like 18 countries. And it is relatively easy to request a long term assignment in another company if you like.
If you enjoy the lifestyle of being a show-by-doing consultant (your time is split between doing your craft and advising/upskilling client teams in that craft), you get into some really meaty consulting scenarios; I personally thrive on that balance of doing and teaching.
What’s different with ThoughtWorks as a consultancy is that we partner with the clients on everything from concept creation and validation through developing the final solution, so you aren’t pigeonholed into just creating a concept or just executing on someone else’s vision.
Client projects can be anywhere from a few weeks to a year-ish, so you get to try out a lot of different domains and challenges — it’s rarely boring because your assignments are always changing.
Finally, it’s a very flat organization that gives you a lot of flexibility in creating your own career path. That can be difficult for some people to navigate, but if you’re a self-starter and enjoy driving your career into different directions, it’s fabulous for that.
Cons
Everyone is very opinionated. This is both a pro and a con because it brings up many engaging conversations and also can be challenging to navigate.
The flatness of the organization can be difficult for people that don’t enjoy making their own path.
There tends to be a lot of travel involved, depending on your home office and your specific projects. Some think of this as a pro, and some people get tired of traveling frequently and get burned out.
