Pros
1. I actually found the company culture quite lovely. Perhaps it was my team, the fact I came from a partner firm, or because I worked there for so many years. 2. It really is a great place to start your career. Wages are fair and you can advance quickly (if not in title, then in salary) so long as you produce quality work and stay engaged with management. This was easier to do in my team than others. 3. You are given plenty of latitude from day 1. Editors were always included in key strategy discussions and their ideas were usually appreciated and approved when feasible. 4. CEO is active and involved with employees. He always recalled my name, even as a new employee. 5. It was great to have access to food. 6. Benefits were great. I didn't pay a dime to hospitals and physicians when my son was born. Co-pays were minimal.
Cons
1. I've noticed several reviews discussed flexibility and work-life balance. My particular manager required everyone to report to the office to work. You couldn't work from home when you or your child was sick, if you had car trouble, if you had an appointment that made it difficult to commute, and so on. I missed some important events (son's school plays and concerts) because I burned through my PTO sitting in pediatricians' offices and dealing with other necessary appointments. 2. Since leaving QuinStreet, I've discovered how out-of-touch it is with current research and best practices. I now have the perspective to look back on major projects and see why they failed. 3. Sometimes it was difficult to work with other teams. Editors have to work with developers frequently, and the developer I was assigned to did not produce quality work. It was a lot of little issues that really killed use experience and accessibility to information. I was usually given an explanation for these oddities and shortcuts, but some issues were so basic that I just couldn't trust him. Now that I've moved on, I realize just how poor the work really was. That isn't to say he wasn't talented -- he just wanted to do things his own way and was unwilling to collaborate.