Great Place to Work in Theory, Too Old School for Younger Gerneration
Pros
-Kind People -Lenient when it comes to workload and work/life balance -In the suburbs -401K and benefits package -Willing to let you learn new things People are very nice, and I enjoy the people I interact with. Despite salary being slightly below average I have found that profit sharing and yearly bonuses make up for the lack of salary immensely. I also enjoy the tools I am working with (because it is a modern software) and the business users I interact with are kind. I am able to get my vacation days whenever possible and they are lenient when you have to leave early or have to miss a couple hour during the day for essential reasons.
Cons
-Lack of Training -Very disorganized when it comes to what the goals are in the IT department (at least from an associate point of view) -Values length of time at company over improving performance in a timely manner -A lack of direction for new employees -Old School culture (in office, lots of older employees and lack of age diversity, lack of modern practice, lack of collaboration that had been pushed my entire time growing up) -Unwilling to lead you in the right direction when having a desire to learn more I hated how little training I had and the fact the software I had to learn was literally from YouTube videos (I had to find other means of learning). Any other tools I got were lackluster and outdated (old PowerPoints, random documents that made no sense to a young person). I also don't like the fact that longevity is the biggest value people at the company have. With a family member having worked there for over 20 years and stating how great the workspace and culture was, I was quite disappointed by the general IL political views and a lack of culture (likely due to COVID) that I have seen since starting at the company. In addition to this, the company is in shambles due the fast-paced move to modern and virtual practices by many other companies and they can't seem to realize why despite being on a hiring kick, so many people have left the company. They have put the hammer down that nobody is allowed to work fully remote anymore and will terminate if you do not comply, even if it for an important reason. I get the values of working in the office and respect that, but a good employer would value an employees freedom and work/life balance too. I frankly cannot stand how this has created a culture that is a one way street. You are loyal and give your heart and soul, or you are nothing to the company. Currently I feel like I am nothing to the company due to these issues.
