Not a place for a Data Scientist - Data Scientist PAPER Employee Review

1.0
Apr 9, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people around from different backgrounds with plenty of stories. The company has some mission which they somehow try to achieve.

Cons

Technology wise it stands rather poorly - looking from a data scientist perspective. When I joined (that time GradeSlam), the code was a perfect example of spaghetti. There wasn't much knowledge transfer since everybody was rather junior and the director didn't have any expertise in machine learning. You wont be given any machine with a GPU or even access to the server having one. Everything we did felt like finding yourself work to do. Your daily duties boil down to creating reports where you try showing schools there's a lot of students hitting the planform whereas average usage is around 5%. That demotivates as you see your work useless and it didn't take me long to start burning out. Another thing is that people just disappear. One day you come to the office and realize there's a few people missing and turns out they got fired but no one even bothered to tell you anything. Last but not least, forget about a raise. CTO knows plenty of ways to tell you that you're extremely essential yet not enough to get a raise. Overall I think Paper is an okish place to be and only people make up for this score. You won't learn much but if you don't have any other choice, go for it.

Explore other reviews about PAPER

5.0
Nov 8, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great Work and felt very rewarding.

Cons

Few Hours and not a lot of support.

4.0
Jul 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Real remote flexibility here. They are embracing the technology we have to ensure our work life balance remains a high priority. You're trusted to manage your own time and get the job done without constant oversight. The bigger story though is the turnaround over the last year and a half. The new leadership has turned the ship around... before it fell off the map. The mission is clear now, and there's real room to help shape how we get there rather than crossing our fingers, closing our eyes, and hoping for the least worst.

Cons

Leadership communication is where things fall a bit short. We get the monthly all-hands and then... radio silence. I get it, priorities compete and there's a lot on their plate. But when the crew is the one actually rowing the boat, it helps to hear from the captain more than once a month. The occasional engagement via Slack, a little more visibility in between the big meetings would go a long way toward keeping everyone rowing in the same direction. We're all in this together - it's helpful to be reminded why a bit more often.

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