Pros
Ultimately there were no pros
Cons
What sold me on the Duck Creek? #1 Work from Home #2 Work life balance (these words were literally used 3x during my interview) #3 Opportunity to grow and learn about cloud computing I’ll address these one by one. I won’t get too in the weeds but I want to make sure you understand enough detail to make an informed decision. Work from home: Was hired with the understanding that it was a work from home position. I have medical conditions that make it necessary for me to move around during my workday. I need to be able to stand, sit, and walk around. I have a standing desk, padded mat and an adjustable chair at my house (Nothing crazy or too expensive). I have had wfh jobs for the last few years. I choose to work from home because I have multiple places to work and I can easily get comfortable and work more hours with more focus. Within 3 months of my hire date wfh was gone. A new director came in and decided that wfh was a bad idea. Regardless of commitments, circumstances or even medical requirements, we were all forced to move into a very small, hot and loud WeWork office. When this happened, I let HR know about my situation and provided a doctors note. I also talked to my boss to let him know. He let me know it wouldn’t be a problem to accommodate me. After a few weeks of working in the WeWork office, I was in pretty bad shape. The chairs are very cheap and have no adjustment options. Very basic desk. I got a hold of HR and they apologized that they “had forgotten” to send my standing desk. About a week later I got Veridesk riser. Unfortunately, it didn’t fit on my desk and could only be used as a monitor riser. I wrote a long email to my boss and HR regarding the situation. I even provided some inexpensive products that could make it all work for me. No one responded. I worked a few more months and ultimately resigned. I’m now in physical therapy. This could have been avoided for about $500. Work Life Balance: There is no work life balance at Duck Creek. Tech Archs and Senior Analysts are expected to work normal business hours in the office and then go home and take SEV1 calls into the wee hours of the morning with out missing a beat. If you are not available you are considered dead weight. If you need training you are considered dead weight. If you question anything you are a dead man walking. It’s a very toxic atmosphere. Opportunity to grow and learn about cloud computing: This was a complete fabrication. Documentation is non-existent. Training consists of watching someone else put out fires but there is no objectives or even an outline of what you are supposed to learn. Some people get training others don’t, but everyone is expected to have the same knowledge. When I was hired I was told I would be getting extensive training and certifications. I was never given any remote, classroom, eLearning or any other kind of meaningful training at Duck Creek. When I asked for the same training other employees got I was told that they didn’t have a budget to send me to training. I think new leadership ruined any chance of Duck Creek being a good place to work for me. I know other teams seem happier so I’m not going to say it’s all-bad. But it’s amazing to see so many small things turn into such a horrible experience for some people. Big decisions need to be made carefully and individuals need to be considered. You have to leave your humanity in leadership.
