Pros
The people that work at Codesmith are very passionate about what they do and very mission driven. We see a lot of people come from non-profit backgrounds as you get the satisfaction of helping many people while maintaining the flexibility of a start-up. The company emphasizes the importance of relationship building, and co-workers easily become friends through a culture of coffee chats, dinners, and fun team events (even while remote!) The opportunities for growth are endless, many people that came on the team early are now leaders at the company and manage several team members. Outside of scheduled meetings, I have a lot of flexibility with my time. The team implements a no meeting Wednesday to allow time for flow work. I have plenty of work/life balance, as does the rest of my team. There is a lot of room for cross department collaboration and innovation, things are always changing for the better and the entire team truly wants what is best for the student experience. The satisfaction of seeing the lives, careers, and financial stability of students change for the better once they secure a job in field is by far the best part of working at Codesmith. We truly do make a difference for thousands of people.
Kontras
The work level can sometimes become unbalanced as the company scales. When this did happen to me I pointed it out to my manager and we looked over my tasks to see what was manageable and hired a new team member. Since it's a fast growing start-up, it's important to communicate your work load and capacity with your manager. The company has grown really rapidly in the last year and a half, and some of its benefits and structures for the team are still forming.