Pros
Clearwater's culture encourages developers to continuously improve our software. It is an agile environment where each team includes all the people it needs to do its job (developers, testers, product manager, accounting/finance specialists as necessary). There are some company-wide standards, but for the most part each team can choose to use the tools and processes that make it most productive. The team is not pressured to set deadlines, but can release their software when they have proven that it's done. All the development leaders are also developers, so they can understand the technical reasons behind decisions that are made.
The company understands that people are most innovative when their minds are fresh, and there is little value in asking people to stay late or come in on weekends. As another reviewer said, "They aren't trying to keep you at work all day", because the long-term benefits of a healthy work/life balance far outweigh any short-term gain from extra hours. At the same time, they do expect people to engage and be physically present in the office while working, which is actually an advantage because we don't have to rely on teleconferences like companies that are geographically spread out.
At the end of each year, employees are rated by how well they live up to the company's ideals, such as Teamwork, Good Judgement, Knowledge, Cooperation, Initiative and Creativity. Those who are creative and reliable in solving problems have a chance to take on leadership roles.
Cons
There's a lot of domain-specific knowledge that needs to be absorbed about accounting, investments, banking, and the various aspects of stocks and bonds. New developers often need to figure this stuff out for themselves or keep asking questions.
This is no longer a start-up company where we have the potential to become millionaires by working here. It is a stable job that is more than enough to support a family, but with lower risk comes lower chance of reward.
