Pros
-Some of the most amazing coworkers I've ever had -Free vendor lunches (not provided by the company) -Some may find their work to be interesting -Pretty office space with perks like a zen room (although rarely used) -Office closes at 3pm on summer Fridays -Office closed for a week during winter holidays Benefits are above average: -10 days PTO -wellness day after 1 year employed -phone plan after 1 year employed -health insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, & life insurance -401k after 1 year employed -Commuter benefits/stipend
Cons
-Unbelievably high turn-over rate: 17 people resigned or were fired in the 12 months I was there. The staff is only 25-30 people in total. -If you don't drink the "kool-aid" and question the management, you are punished and ultimately eliminated -The owner is extremely emotionally abusive and manipulative to employees (i.e. tearing them down emotionally with masked "critical" feedback and then giving them giftcards and showering them in compliments the next week) -Projects are conceptually vapid, rushed through design, and primarily focused on budget -Senior designers are young, immature, and lacking proper management training when compared to other companies. They are heavily favored over the rest of the staff and they will do anything to keep their status with the owner. -Woman running HR is their accountant who is in her mid-20s and has no previous HR experience which creates an environment where there is no safe channel for feedback or workplace issues -Management creates an extremely strict environment where everyone must be in their seats during office hours and must be working at all times. Anyone who is late or not working is reported among the seniors through a private group chat they use. Anyone who does not work overtime is punished and/or fired. Use of headphones and cellphones are extremely discouraged. If you talk or socialize too much, you are punished, but if you don't create an effort to be socially involved with coworkers, you can be fired. -There is a general lack of technical knowledge (with the exception of only a couple designers) as the owner and senior designers have little or no formal training and there is no way for them to foster improvement with this. -All design decisions must be passed through the owner because the seniors are incompetent and the owner's reaction is impossible to predict. -Work/life balance is not respected. Some seniors require you to work 12 hour workdays consistently, work on the weekends, and will punish you for not meeting this requirement. This stems from their own inability to manage deadlines and communicate efficiently as well as their own inability to retain a healthy work/life balance. -Office location is inconvenient for most commuters and has few lunch options nearby.