Pros
1. This is a great place to start one's career. As a software engineer I have gotten a chance to work on multiple projects where I got to learn a lot of new things and work on large scale projects. I think this is a great place to start for any college grad. 2. Work / Life balance is great - You are not micro-managed and given the flexibility to work on your own schedule. 3. Good Co-Workers - Generally speaking all the people I work with are great. 4. Others - You have a direct line to the VP. You will get to learn a lot if you get an opportunity to work with him. However, I think this is generally not the case anymore.
Cons
Until recently I barely used to think about leaving the company or searching for new opportunities even though I would constantly get bombarded by emails from recruiters. However, this is not the case anymore, and I find myself constantly thinking about this topic. There are 3 main reasons - 1. Career path - The career path is not very well laid out at Alarm. This in all fairness is probably because we are a growing company. However, this is still frustrating and concerning. As other reviewers have also pointed out, promotion process seems a bit ad hoc (not sure if it really is behind the scenes). Few people have been promoted and others who I think should have been promoted by now are still in their old position. In general, I don't think any SE knows what their career trajectory will look like. They are also in the dark about what will be required for a promotion (i.e. what skill sets, experience level etc.). I know just by talking to people that this is a concern for more people than just myself. A lot of people in other departments have left the company recently because of this same reason. 2. Compensation - I don't think the compensation at Alarm is very competitive. In my research I have found that my pay and even the average pay for an SE here is below the average compensation around Tysons and DC area. The raises are not that great which I think makes the problem worse over time. Initially, I used to think that the compensation was at par / competitive. However, every year during my research I find that my pay is below the average around this area. I know that compensation is even a bigger concern in some other departments. 3. Technology - I think this would be true after a while in any company. However, after working here for so long, I find that I am not learning a lot of new things anymore. At this point I have my doubts about how much longer I will be with the company.
