How are the career development opportunities at Guild?

Great managers, professional development opportunities, and opportunities for advancement

Frequent change and concern about RIFs

People: Truly amazing teammates and colleagues. I consistently felt fortunate to work with supportive managers and leaders who genuinely cared about me as an employee, but as a person. There was a strong emphasis on career growth and development, and I always felt encouraged to pursue new opportunities. Family Planning: If you’re planning to have a child, Guild is an especially supportive place to work. They offer generous parental leave for all parents, along with flexible scheduling to help accommodate different needs. In addition, employees receive a $10K benefit that can be used toward family planning, including fertility treatments or adoption services. ERGs (Employee Resource Groups): Guild invests meaningfully in ERGs, providing funding and support for communities to host events and build connections. While participation can vary depending on role requirements, and there are opportunities to further strengthen leadership engagement, the overall level of support is still stronger than what many companies offer. Promotion & Mobility: In my experience, strong performance is recognized, and promotions tend to follow when you’re consistently delivering. At more senior levels, there are also good opportunities to move across teams and departments. Previously, Guild invested more heavily in entry-level and associate roles to help employees transition into new areas, though those opportunities have become more limited over time - this has caused some tension in Guild’s culture because there are many that want to move within but struggle to do so. Educational Benefits: Guild offers employees access to the same educational programs it provides to its partners. This makes it easy for employees to pursue further education, whether for personal growth or career advancement.

Many of the challenges below reflect a shift from what Guild previously offered to how things have evolved in recent years. Layoffs & Stability: Job stability has become a concern at Guild. In my experience, there have been multiple rounds of layoffs (large-scale and more targeted) which has changed the overall sense of security that once existed. These decisions have impacted a wide range of employees, from newer hires to highly experienced team members. There have also been changes to how the company supports employees through transitions. Previously, departing employees were offered more extended resources (such as continued access to education benefits, keeping their work computers - which is vital for job searches, and career support). The current approach is more sterile, expect only severance and COBRA support. Additionally, Guild does not offer a 401(k) match, instead emphasizing equity as a long-term benefit. While this may be valuable in the future, recent changes—such as a shorter post-employment window to exercise options (Guild used to offer laid off employees 2 years to buy options and now only allows 90 days) can make it difficult for employees to fully realize that benefit, especially during an unexpected transition. Benefits: Benefits have also shifted in a negative way. While Guild was once a standout in this area, recent changes have made the experience more complex, particularly those outside of Colorado and California. Navigating coverage, billing, and third-party vendors can require significant time and effort, and in some cases may create friction in accessing care. Going to my next point - Guild seems to be moving in the direction of a return to office (CO and CA) and less support for a remote workforce and this shows in the benefits they offer their current remote workers. Also check the current job descriptions - they all have a hiring preference for Colorado residences and emphasize being in the office. Remote Work & Location Dynamics: Guild transitioned to a remote model during the pandemic, but there are now signals of a shift back toward in-office presence. While this is framed as flexible, there appears to be increasing emphasis on proximity to certain office locations. In practice, some employees outside of core geographic hubs feel less included in that long-term vision. Work-Life Balance: Work-life balance can be demanding, particularly as the company continues to grow and evolve. Flexibility exists in theory, it can sometimes translate into extended work hours to keep up with expectations. The pace and intensity may not be sustainable for everyone, and the culture has shifted from what it was in earlier years.

People: Truly amazing teammates and colleagues. I consistently felt fortunate to work with supportive managers and leaders who genuinely cared about me as an employee, but as a person. There was a strong emphasis on career growth and development, and I always felt encouraged to pursue new opportunities. Family Planning: If you’re planning to have a child, Guild is an especially supportive place to work. They offer generous parental leave for all parents, along with flexible scheduling to help accommodate different needs. In addition, employees receive a $10K benefit that can be used toward family planning, including fertility treatments or adoption services. ERGs (Employee Resource Groups): Guild invests meaningfully in ERGs, providing funding and support for communities to host events and build connections. While participation can vary depending on role requirements, and there are opportunities to further strengthen leadership engagement, the overall level of support is still stronger than what many companies offer. Promotion & Mobility: In my experience, strong performance is recognized, and promotions tend to follow when you’re consistently delivering. At more senior levels, there are also good opportunities to move across teams and departments. Previously, Guild invested more heavily in entry-level and associate roles to help employees transition into new areas, though those opportunities have become more limited over time - this has caused some tension in Guild’s culture because there are many that want to move within but struggle to do so. Educational Benefits: Guild offers employees access to the same educational programs it provides to its partners. This makes it easy for employees to pursue further education, whether for personal growth or career advancement.

Many of the challenges below reflect a shift from what Guild previously offered to how things have evolved in recent years. Layoffs & Stability: Job stability has become a concern at Guild. In my experience, there have been multiple rounds of layoffs (large-scale and more targeted) which has changed the overall sense of security that once existed. These decisions have impacted a wide range of employees, from newer hires to highly experienced team members. There have also been changes to how the company supports employees through transitions. Previously, departing employees were offered more extended resources (such as continued access to education benefits, keeping their work computers - which is vital for job searches, and career support). The current approach is more sterile, expect only severance and COBRA support. Additionally, Guild does not offer a 401(k) match, instead emphasizing equity as a long-term benefit. While this may be valuable in the future, recent changes—such as a shorter post-employment window to exercise options (Guild used to offer laid off employees 2 years to buy options and now only allows 90 days) can make it difficult for employees to fully realize that benefit, especially during an unexpected transition. Benefits: Benefits have also shifted in a negative way. While Guild was once a standout in this area, recent changes have made the experience more complex, particularly those outside of Colorado and California. Navigating coverage, billing, and third-party vendors can require significant time and effort, and in some cases may create friction in accessing care. Going to my next point - Guild seems to be moving in the direction of a return to office (CO and CA) and less support for a remote workforce and this shows in the benefits they offer their current remote workers. Also check the current job descriptions - they all have a hiring preference for Colorado residences and emphasize being in the office. Remote Work & Location Dynamics: Guild transitioned to a remote model during the pandemic, but there are now signals of a shift back toward in-office presence. While this is framed as flexible, there appears to be increasing emphasis on proximity to certain office locations. In practice, some employees outside of core geographic hubs feel less included in that long-term vision. Work-Life Balance: Work-life balance can be demanding, particularly as the company continues to grow and evolve. Flexibility exists in theory, it can sometimes translate into extended work hours to keep up with expectations. The pace and intensity may not be sustainable for everyone, and the culture has shifted from what it was in earlier years.

I’ve been with Guild for 4.5 years and have had the opportunity to immensely grow my career and skillset. I’ve seen Guild change in a lot of way over the years, but there has always been a commitment to the people we serve, our mission, and providing opportunity to grow.

Guild has evolved and changed over the years due to rapid growth. With growth comes the need for change. If you aren’t comfortable in an evolving organization, I could understand why it would be difficult to work there.

+ Remote-first policy + Good benefits (although they have steadily declined)

- Leadership team is inexperienced and in over their heads, struggling with long-term strategy and execution. - Favoritism and politics run rampant. - Career advancement opportunities seem limited and potentially biased. - Company direction and performance have been existentially concerning - Profound disconnect between stated values and actual culture and practices. - An "unlimited" PTO policy which is definitely not. - No 401K match My time at Guild was disappointing. While the company's mission sounds admirable, there was a significant gap between the rhetoric and the reality. The leadership team is almost universally inexperienced and seemed ill-equipped to face challenges and steer the company effectively. This was evident in the near constant organizational changes, including multiple rounds of layoffs that affected over a third of the company in the space of a year. This seems directly at odds with the company's stated focus on professional development and re-skilling. Career progression at Guild was frustrating. Despite a lot of time and energy invested into their "revolutionary" approach to professional development, politics, favoritism and nepotism seemed rampant, undermining morale. Guild's business performance also raised concerns. During my tenure, we experienced the loss of multiple key clients and declining sales, stemming from issues with adapting to customer feedback and market needs. Rather than address these gaps, leadership decided on an approach of maintaining revenue targets through repeated staff reductions. This put more pressure on those left behind and often times didn't make any sense, especially for a company advocating for workforce development. The worst part is that I don't see a lot of hope for the company to turn things around, at least with this leadership team. The disconnect between Guild's external messaging and internal practices was substantial and problematic. I can't see why any company would want to engage with Guild when it's so obvious that they themselves don't practice what they preach or realize any of the apparent benefits of their platform.

The top pro really is that ultimately our solution enables life changing education and economic mobility for human beings. Think about it - tuition free education for those who will truly benefit from that unlock?! Amazing Exciting to have a product that is so available across industries and geo People here are smart, thoughtful, driven, and constantly growing to meet the need for flexibility in the economic landscape and business trajectory Benefits, remote policy, pay are great - and (in my experience) direct management gives a damn about their reports.

To call out the negativity I see on Glassdoor - most of these reviews are likely from folks who were part of RIF's from the past two years- and watched the company grow from its early grassroots days where it was possible to lead by bleeding hearts and passion alone. I think it's been challenging for many to separate themselves from the business not being "family"/identity and to watch the shift to corporate maneuvers. Working here is EONS better than so many work spaces that impede access to career growth, standardize culture, and drive products that don't ultimately matter. Yes, theres a strong academic ivory tower influence; yes business is ever-evolving; yes, there is a tight network of people that have been here for a while and likely some favoritism... But isn't that the nature of business in most places?? Cons - I agree with others in that it's meeting heavy and layered/fragmented decision making has led to slow downs

-Professional development opportunities - I've been given countless opportunities to take on more challenging work and grow my career at Guild. I am literally a different professional from when I joined the company, in a good way. -Ability to utilize incredible FREE education benefits -Incredibly smart, hardworking, and kind colleagues at every level -The mission is important and the work is interesting -Every manager I've ever had has cared about me as a person and supported my growth and development -Excellent salary and benefits -Very people-centered benefits and policies (5 weeks paid sabbatical; ramp up period after leaves; family planning benefit, and a lot more) -Unlimited PTO (I've never had a PTO request declined, ever, and I actually use it to its extent) -Work/life balance is excellent -Flexible schedule

-By far the biggest con to working at Guild is that things change quickly and you have to be flexible to thrive here (or even enjoy it); and even then, the pace of change can feel exhausting. -Meeting heavy culture which can also feel exhausting at times, especially for leaders/people managers -Wish there was a 401k match -There is a small but vocal contingent of mostly former employees who seem to be hell bent on bashing Guild publicly. It's uncomfortable to watch.

Guild has at times been a great place to work. Pay was competitive, benefits were cool, and engineering consensus/decision-making was mostly visible. I liked my team and my manager, and we generally get along.

Most of what you do as a manager is deal with politics. This is an open secret. Many projects were started and finished with "saving face" or "buying trust" as the main goal; more often than not, this was more important than any identifiable business goal. Nothing at Guild is particularly stable. They introduced a new performance management structure every year I was there. Supposed to reduce bias, but actually likely enhanced bias. Quality engineers don't have a skill matrix, but the rest of engineering does. Though this was brought up multiple times, it was never officially addressed. Arbitrary pressure and fear. Evaluating an engineer as capable meant, according to leadership, that we should be "meeting all our goals" in the next quarter. (The problem of course is that the only goals put forth were arbitrary delivery timelines. Additionally, this assertion makes the work of all leaders essentially a non-factor in that success equation.) Managers were asked this year to "find" people who could be put on performance plans, a thinly veiled effort to avoid doing a larger RIF. This failed; 12% RIF in 2023, 25% RIF in 2024. Multiple smaller reorgs along the way, some that impacted people. This RIF happened to target not only people who just so happened to be in that "performance plan" group, but also quite a large number of people that were either on parental leave or about to go on parental leave. This means that while these people were out for a few months, Guild was planning an org structure that didn't include them. I cannot imagine anyone feeling comfortable going out on leave from Guild at this point. Poorly managed policy changes in general. Open PTO language was changed to be more restrictive, which wasn't openly announced until after it was discovered by a group of managers. Success metrics for many teams just simply don't exist. Your only imperative is to deliver features being planned by higher up people than you by some arbitrary date. Multiple occasions where I saw people take initiative, only to be shut down by higher level leadership for poorly defined (possibly non-existent) reasons. Overall, if you don't want to be the target of seemingly random company change that churns through people without a second thought, I'd sadly suggest you avoid Guild. On the flip side, you can do well here if you are incredibly politically savvy and enjoy the process of stepping on others to get ahead. If you don't really care much about actually producing quality work or investing in people, but are just looking to grow your own career at the expense of others, you might be in good company. You may also do well here if you have pre-existing relationships with powerful people, but be careful - you might become victim of a coup. While these many issues are true in many orgs, at Guild they are especially pronounced. Disclaimer: the current CEO is not Rachel Carlson, as Glassdoor reflects. It is Bijal Shah. My rating reflects Bijal's leadership, not Rachel's.

Okay times, made good friends

Not a lot of career growth

-Professional development opportunities - I've been given countless opportunities to take on more challenging work and grow my career at Guild. I am literally a different professional from when I joined the company, in a good way. -Ability to utilize incredible FREE education benefits -Incredibly smart, hardworking, and kind colleagues at every level -The mission is important and the work is interesting -Every manager I've ever had has cared about me as a person and supported my growth and development -Excellent salary and benefits -Very people-centered benefits and policies (5 weeks paid sabbatical; ramp up period after leaves; family planning benefit, and a lot more) -Unlimited PTO (I've never had a PTO request declined, ever, and I actually use it to its extent) -Work/life balance is excellent -Flexible schedule

-By far the biggest con to working at Guild is that things change quickly and you have to be flexible to thrive here (or even enjoy it); and even then, the pace of change can feel exhausting. -Meeting heavy culture which can also feel exhausting at times, especially for leaders/people managers -Wish there was a 401k match -There is a small but vocal contingent of mostly former employees who seem to be hell bent on bashing Guild publicly. It's uncomfortable to watch.