Poor management hidden behind tons of great perks - Assistant (Contractor) Optimal (WA) Employee Review

Working at SR Education Group was really awesome, everyone there is super friendly and they often play board games and play wine on Friday afternoons. They also have regular company lunches that are paid for and have a full kitchen you can use to make lunches (they will buy whatever food/ingredients you ask for). There is also a pool table and ping pong table you can use, and they don’t expect you to work more than 8 hours a day even if it means pushing back deadlines. You can have a lot of ownership over specific products if that’s what you want.

They are based in Kirkland, so if you live in Seattle the commute is a bit annoying. The pay could also be better.

- Amazing people to work with. Everyone is very helpful if you aren't afraid to ask for help, and there were always great conversations at the lunch table. Lots of fun activities and the team is welcoming and tight-knit - Lots of opportunities to take charge and steer projects in a particular direction that's most helpful to your own professional growth, provided you take the initiative and figure out how to align your professional goals with those of the company - Great benefits, flexibility, and trust. Work life balance is great, and the company does things like weekly outings to the local farmers market, which is a nice break in the workday - Company encourages professional development, which I highly recommend taking advantage of.

- Company is very small and has been experiencing quite a bit of growth, so there are lots of growing pains. I think this is typical for any growing small company - Not a lot of guidance or mentorship from leadership, at least for my personal discipline (design). I found a way around this by seeking mentorship externally and taking advantage of conferences, etc., but it does require initiative. PMs who want to follow the path of a senior PM might have more luck seeking this out - At the moment, design is tertiary at this company. Leadership acknowledges/is transparent about this, at least.