Pros
-Vibrant office, smart colleagues, company mission, opportunities to travel in my role, and work flexibility. -Opportunities to get creative and use unique problem-solving -I worked on the Enterprise side creating tailored online and offline learning engagements for Fortune 500 companies which was very exciting getting to meet senior leadership of the companies whose accounts I managed. - A lot of traveling domestically and internationally -I also had the opportunity to work with some of the most brilliant designers, instructors and facilitators, people who are experts in their respective fields. -Looks good on resume; can leverage work experience into better and higher paying job opportunities or admission to prestigious graduate school programs (re: MBA) -Access to workshops, events, and courses for free or at discounted rates -Flatiron district location -Team bonding and collaborative atmosphere
Cons
-GA had an incredibly honorable mission, unfortunately the focus has turned to churning out as many graduates and accounts to hit quotas and sales goals. -Product identity crisis which made it hard to pitch to potential clients, expectations for sales goals were often times too ambitious -Pay is much less than the industry standard for an "Engagement Manager" -With the incredibly high turnover, the team was spread very thin. -Leadership would talk a good game about taking steps to correct the "pain points" experienced by members of the team but rarely delivered. -"Initiative overload," members of the team would come up with team initiatives (well meaning but pointless) which made balancing and prioritizing daily responsibilities fairly difficult -Lack of communication or miscommunication between U.S. and Europe teams on occasion -To be successful, or at least highly effective, in this environment requires a degree of "scrappy-ness," which may not work for everyone -Not the most culturally or racially diverse workforce -Travel often times became overwhelming and unpredictable -Lots of menial tasks...there was little to no administrative or "back end" support when it came to doing certain things like shipping materials, processing invoices/receipts, booking hotels/transportation, and ordering catering and supplies. -No career path or trajectory for my role, the class of "Engagement Managers" that I started with have all but moved on to other companies and opportunities. GA is not the ideal place to stay and build a career, if anything it is a stepping stone into better career opportunities.