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Mission: think-cell is a fast-paced software company in Berlin, Germany, with a focus on developing graphics products that stand out from the crowd. More than 600,000 users world-wide rely on our software for their daily business as it makes creating graphical presentations so much ... Read more
Helpful (3)
I have been working at think-cell full-time (More than 10 years)
Pros
My current colleagues with permanent developer positions have done a marvelous job in their glassdoor reviews, describing all the reasons why they like working at think-cell. I can simply subscribe to what they said, and I do not want to repeat it all.
When my brother worked in the think-cell office for a day (completely unrelated job, merely using a desk and wifi for his own work), he told me afterwards that he liked the friendly and relaxed yet focused working atmosphere. I strongly agree.
Just consider: think-cell has a reputation for an extraordinarily rigorous hiring process and for extremely high coding standards. With think-cell on your resumé it should not be hard to get other, highly desirable and reputable C++ jobs. But the fact of the matter is: Who works at think-cell, stays at think-cell. In more than ten years, I have seen less than a handful of developers leaving from a permanent position at think-cell. It took me a while to realize that there is no better job for me in the world than my current position, but at some point I just stopped looking for other jobs.
Of course this means that you get to know your colleagues quite well. It does not mean that we are all big family, spending all our work and spare time together. Everybody has their private lifes, many have family. Some share similar interests and others don't. But it does mean that when I get to work, there is not a single person I try to avoid. Some are closer to me than others, but everybody is open-minded, approachable, and ready to help. They come as they are, and they treat each other with respect. It is a pleasure to meet them every day.
Cons
No formal career opportunities, since there is no middle management. If you think about it, the absence of the latter is actually a plus... ;) Very good self-organizational skills are required (for the same reason: you are your own middle-manager almost from day one).
Advice to Management
You are brilliant in coding but your actual core competence is building a team that lasts. Please keep doing so!
Helpful (15)
Application
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at think-cell.
Interview
The first step was a timed online test to write a certain data structure, not a very typical one. Not a rocket science, but it required some careful testing. Looks like I did OK. Then I had a phone interview where I was asked to implement a certain algorithm. This part was far from perfect, it felts like the interviewer was out of time and put me on hold a couple of times asking to email him when I have an updated solution - which was very different from the usual process where you first implement a basic solution, and then asked to accommodate more specific requirements.
If you are preparing for an interview there, you might want to warm up by implementing some textbook or STL data structures and algorithms from scratch.
Interview Questions
We are happy to share that Tony E. Lewis has accepted think-cell's offer of sponsorship to attend the upcoming ISO C++ WG21 meeting. The meeting will be held on March 12-17, 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Tony will represent think-cell in particular in the Library working group regarding the inclusion of the Ranges Technical Specification into the C++ 20 working draft. Read more about this event and the Standards Committee here: http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vQjsH
We will visit Amsterdam on the 18th January, where we will join a local C++ Community Meetup. Our technical director, Arno Schoedl, Ph.D. will speak about the transition "From Iterators to Ranges". Because pairs of iterators are ubiquitous throughout the C++ library, it is generally accepted that combining such a pair into a single entity usually termed Range delivers more concise and readable code. Defining the precise semantics of such Range concept proves surprisingly tricky, however, in Arno's opinion. Theoretical considerations conflict with practical ones. Some design goals are mutually incompatible altogether. He will dive deep into the topic at the office of IMC Financial Markets on the third floor of Tower D of the World Trade Center building. Don't forget to register for free on the meetup page to join us that evening. There will be socializing with food and drinks apart from the talk and a good time to discuss career opportunities at think-cell! http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vQ2Tr
