Almost a dream job, but has many institutional problems - Engineer Applied Minds Employee Review

2.0
Aug 14, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you're the right person to fit into this hyper multi-disciplinary, highly creative, and often chaotic work environment, you will LOVE this job. Your enjoyment of working at Applied Minds scales with your competence at producing near-miracles in a variety of disciplines. Casual dress code. Lots of fun tools and equipment. Awesome open-plan office environment -- lots of plants, natural lighting, big open space, etc. Rapid-fire projects in a variety of fields. Great place to learn if you can boot-strap yourself. Massive potential for project ownership.

Cons

When deadlines are approaching, work hours can be long (60 to 80 hours/week) although most of the time it's ~40 hours/week. Hard work is not rewarded. Promised bonuses are a lie (don't believe the recruiter), and there's no comp time off after 80 hour work weeks and working nights and weekends. Spineless managers won't stand up for their team, and are never around when they're needed. No professional development. No formal mentor-ship program, and senior employees are overworked to the point that they hardly have time to talk to junior employees. Teams don't communicate well, and managers don't care. No improvement culture. After a few project cycles you'll start to learn that the company has been making the same mistakes over and over for many years. Many projects have no real world impact --- for example, projects may be to help a struggling company catch up with their competitors, or to produce a demo which shows off a technology that will never have an impact as a technology or service. The good old boy's club is alive and well...

Explore other reviews about Applied Minds

5.0
Sep 25, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

great people, awesome projects, and always willing to help you learn

Cons

the company structure is too flat

3.0
Oct 4, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This place is all about dazzling people on a superficial level and that has its appeal, for a limited period of time. There are some exceptionally talented people who work here. If you're on the right project you learn research, prototyping, and presentation skills that you wouldn't learn at a more traditional engineering shop. Appealing combination of design, engineering and invention that you won't find at many other places.

Cons

There is a cult of personality at this place around the company's leaders that suffocates the ability of senior-level technical staff to advance in their careers. Abuse and strong pecking order are a part of the culture here. Be prepared to work all-nighters and then get yelled at the next day. For junior folks, you won't find good mentorship here. There is almost no set of interests someone might have that would lead me to recommend working at this place. If you want to do applied research, work at a real R&D organization like SRI, Microsoft Research, etc. If you want to build stuff, work at Google, Facebook.

15
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