Pros
Wayfair Labs has to be the best program a tech company can develop for new entry-level employees. My co-workers (or labsters, as we call them) and I started with no prior mobile development experience, and Wayfair Labs trained us to become regular Software Engineers with real responsibilities and projects.
- The program is structured extremely well: there's 3 main projects, each with a specific purpose. The first one gets you familiar with whichever mobile platform you'll be using (in my case, I learned iOS/Swift/Xcode). The next project gets you used to the app architecture used at Wayfair. With the last one, you'll actually start working with the Wayfair codebase and do actual real work.
- The timing of the workshops is great: along with the projects, you'll also learn through many workshops every week, taught by the mobile team's Software Engineers with whom you'll eventually work. The purpose and timing of each workshop is aligned really well with what you need to learn for your projects you'll be working on, so you can integrate what you learn into your work, and be familiar with what they'll teach you beforehand.
- Feedback is encouraged (both ways): you'll work closely with a mentor (who will be with you most of the time at the beginning) and a manager. You'll have weekly/biweekly 1:1s with both to discuss about your progress, questions, concerns and constructive criticism. They will give you honest feedback regarding your progress, what you're doing well, and what you can improve on, to make sure you're always on track. Similarly, you'll be encouraged to give them feedback too so they can improve too.
- The environment is very collaborative: you'll be sitting with the rest of the people in Labs, all of which are assigned the same project and are on the same page. While you'll work individually on your project, helping and supporting each other is definitely encouraged (and it happens all the time, everyday).
- Your skills and preferences are used to match you with the right team: at the end of the program, you'll be asked which of the teams you would like to join. The managers will take this into consideration, in addition to your skills, to make sure you join the team in which you'll be the happiest and most helpful and productive.
- You'll be a full-time employee: even though you're in an entry-level program, you're still a full-time employee. That is, you'll have the same salary, benefits, perks as any other employee here.
- Manager and mentors are awesome: they went through labs and know exactly how you feel. They're really nice, helpful, and happy to help you with your obstacles and goals!
- Company is growing like crazy and work is exciting!
I interned at Google last year and their program wasn't nearly as good as Wayfair Labs. I feel much happier and supported here. I'm very happy I made this decision!
Cons
I honestly can't think of any.
