Pros
Depending on the company climate, your team, and your project, your hours and how you work them can have some flexibility. The engineering department has had “work from home” Tuesdays which improve productivity for many, especially people who would otherwise get questions from managers and the less-experienced. The office space is really pleasant in the sense that we have team spaces as opposed to cubicles. Lots of natural light in the office. Depending on your position, you can employ a wide variety of tools, even for single projects. I’ve seen many people with little to no software experience come to Arcadia and grow significantly as SQL or ruby developers, writing production ready code within a year or less.
Cons
Came up very short on revenue targets in 2013, and due to this (as well as the reactions to this by management and other staff), it has encouraged a very stressful environment. Most every project has had issues with staffing and scope. Some very complex and important projects in delivery have been staffed with entry-level or inexperienced individuals who do not necessarily have the expertise, experience, or guidance to meet all expectations set forth by management. These kids learn a lot going through the process and work very hard, and many of them already have a good knowledge base, but are set up to struggle because of inadequate scoping and lack of technical resources. This definitely puts a strain on engineering and other resources who then have to clean up any mess they make. Many projects in engineering have not had enough time to proper work, as in having sufficient time to explore design or even document your work. As a result, knowledge is compartmentalized and specific individuals possess significant knowledge of specific subsystems within the whole systems without being able to properly understand how their piece ties into the larger product. Project and Account managers are spread thin, and often have to oversee multiple projects which all require significant portions of time (60+ hrs. a week). Many individuals do not handle this well and become very stressed, unreceptive or forgetful the needs of their teammates, and consequently hard to work with. Many of these individuals are not receptive to resolving conflicts mutually with other team members and are inclined to arbitrate even if it is not their responsibility to. Tech. staff are generally not paid competitive wages. Tech staff does a lot of database and ruby development, and salaries hover in the 60’s for many of these young yet and capable developers. Morale is low, many people have left the past half year, and more people within the office are actively looking.
