Pros
I started at dotloop as one of the first 10 employees. Back then, it was a much different place to work...but that's not a good or bad thing. There were things I loved about working here then, and things that I love about working here now. When I started at dotloop, the CTO at the time took me under his wing and taught me everything I needed to know about development in order to succeed here. I literally went from knowing next to nothing, to being able to develop any feature or fix any bug that was asked of me. Dotloop absolutely made me who I am today, and for that I am definitely grateful. As for the company now, it's still an excellent place to work...but you can't expect the same level of personal development that I got. There are still an abundance of learning opportunities to be had here though, given that you put in the passion and effort to take a task and run with it...so don't be put off if you're an inexperienced developer. I think what I like the most about working at dotloop is the level of trust and respect that is given to us. Our team has a great track record in getting things done well and on time, and we are treated accordingly. There are no helicopter-bosses, there's no mandatory clock-in and clock-out time. We are all treated as passionate, intelligent individuals who are all collaborating together to make the dotloop dream come true. The team celebrates victories and learns from their failures together, and it feels like everyone is learning and growing from of one another so we can become better both as a company and as individual developers. From my experience, management will work with you to achieve any goal or area you want to improve in...as long as you're passionate about it and willing to put in the effort. Yes, sometimes that means working late, yes that sometimes means working on the weekend, or spending your free time developing a project to showcase your skills in order to advance...but if you're enjoying it, it's worth your time. In the past the company has struggled with keeping the promises they made, but that has ceased to be an issue in the last 1-2 years. If you want X position, and can spend the time proving that you're capable of delivering what's required of X position...management will take note and work with you on a plan to get you there.
Cons
- There are occasionally times where you'll be working late, or on weekends. They don't happen nearly as often as they used to, as a result of the entire company getting better at estimating, time management, and expectation setting. If you're working late, it's also rarely because a manager asked/forced you to, and more because you're so bought in to the feature you're developing and want to see it succeed. - As mentioned briefly in the Pros section, management has a history of not delivering on promises in the past. The key word here in the past though, as I've seen nothing in the last 1-2 years to suggest that they continue to do this. - The compensation could be higher, but it's by no means bad. Management states that the stock options granted should make up for the market rate differences, but it's always better to not count your chickens before they hatch. - Product direction sometimes dictates the solution rather than the problem. As developers, we love to come up with solutions on our own for solving a certain problem. That's what we are at heart, problem solvers; it's what makes us feel fulfilled after a long day of work. This point has been brought up to management before though, and they've already agreed to keep it in mind and improve. I'm optimistic that this negative will lessen or disappear in the coming months.
