Challenging work, empowering culture
Pros
I started at GSG right out of college, and had the privilege of working here for over 5 years in various positions. I wanted to share not just what I think is done well here, but what is unique. A lot of companies claim a lot of things about their culture, and I've always found it difficult to figure out what's company lingo and what's real, so I hope this helps if you're considering applying. 1) People My coworkers were smart, but humble. That combination made collaboration incredible. You're never "stuck" with a technical issue, because you're always able to ask for help. I didn't have a technical background, but I was able to pick things up purely because of my team. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is an over-achiever. People feel really lucky to work here. They want their team to succeed. 2) Personalism There is an underlying mentality of treating people as individuals, catering to what they need, instead of defaulting to bureaucracy. Everyone has 1:1s with their team lead, usually weekly. The management team is obsessed with their people. The strategy is to hire the best people, empower them, treat them well, offer little guidelines, and they'll do great work. People get hired and promoted based on nothing but their achievements and potential. 3) Complexity Virtually every product has an intense amount of complexity. When you build software for government, the layering of statutes and interpretations of those statutes means you'll spend a lot of time learning and understanding business rules. I was able to develop critical thinking skills I never had before. You'll probably hear about "complex problem solving" in your interview and wonder what that means in practice. I never thought I'd enjoy something like the calculation of California Revenue and Taxation Code 270 penalty on late exemption filings when only part of the property is exempt, but I found out how much I liked these kinds of logic puzzles. 4) Remote work I worked for a few years in the office, and then a few years remotely. Besides the personal benefits of working remotely, I find it's just a generally superior strategy for a software company. Candidates are hired from all across the county, from all walks of life. On a single product team we had someone who lived in an RV, someone who had 10 kids, someone who had a doctorate in music, etc. My "fun facts" never lived up to my colleagues.
Cons
1) We grew from 145 people when I started to over 250 when I left, so there's growing pains. Operationally things are a bit behind what the business needs, especially in the newer teams. Sometimes this led to a strain in my work/life balance. However, I always found management to be receptive of ideas on how to change, and I saw many of those ideas carried out. 2) There is strong leadership at GSG, but little management. Sometimes I felt this made things more chaotic, and it requires the individual to have intense self-management skills. If you require (or simply enjoy) a lot of structure and guidance, you won't like the environment. For the most part, I found this autonomy empowering and freeing, but sometimes I craved more role definition, training, etc.
