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What are you trying to achieve in your software engineering department? - Software Engineer TryHackMe Employee Review

1.0

20 Oct 2024

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

+ flexible working hours + supportive software engineers turned into friends - makes workplace more fun + remote + company retreat (once a year) - actually is a great idea + good department improvements in the last 2 years - thanks to an engineering manager coming on board as opposed to the CEO leading department only. They pushed for what’s best for the team and company from day 1. However another recent growth in management feels like we have taken a step back (see below)

Cons

- new software management come across as “founder-pleasers”. They don’t stand up for our views even though they say they try their best to make it happen. I also find it hard to have genuine 1:1s and talk openly about what is going on as its not going to change anything anyway - when we had one manager, they had to juggle everything going on and things worked well. Now we have multiple engineering management introduced start of this year and things don’t work which is clear as many software engineers have left - we as engineers don’t have much to say regarding technical direction - you got to do what you are told, no space for innovation - career progressions do not exist. Instead of appreciation and internal promotion for your hard work, they will hire a contractor and leave you as you are. What is the point in trying your best if you can’t go anywhere anyway… - constant change of direction e.g. this week you are working on one thing, next week product and engineering goals have changed so your efforts change. And then they complain that your team does not deliver on time - micromanagement! We have definitely been more micromanaged recently. Constant pressure to deliver quickly, with your output closely tracked. It often feels like you have to compromise between quality and speed, and if you're not able to, you're considered "underperforming" - employees being let go without notice across all departments and on the spot - not good way to let people go.

TryHackMe Response

Thanks for your honest feedback. We’re a fast-moving, evolving company and we know that comes with challenges. We’ve made changes in engineering to support scale, and we’re continuing to assess what’s working and what’s not as we evolve during an intense period of growth. We’re building something ambitious here, and getting it right means iterating not just on the product, but how we operate as a team. As we grow, more opportunity arises for career progression and we are committed to developing and retaining our best people.

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1.0

9 Apr 2025

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Nothing that is worth mentioning.

Cons

It's very common for a start-up to reach a stage where they need to bring in an experienced CEO to replace young tech founders, and TryHackMe has reached this critical juncture. The product is great and has a lot of potential. The team is full of extremely talented individuals. Unfortunately, rotten apples in leadership are holding the company back, and that's a real shame. The two co-founders have no business acumen. They also seem to think they're experts in design, marketing, sales, you name it…go figure. TryHackMe is an HR/cultural nightmare. There is a well-meaning HR team, but no meaningful HR work is being done due to toxic "leadership." For example, the co-founders refuse to hold any version of an all-hands meeting because it's "too expensive." Yet they're confused as to why not everyone feels connected to the mission. Hmm, maybe it's because no one actually talks about it. Next, the pay and "benefits." Co-founders love to shout from the rooftops about how the company is financially bootstrapped and stable. This sounds great until you realise it's mostly because they're paying people well below market rate and offer no real benefits. This company is the tech equivalent of Shein. If you want to be underpaid, undervalued, micromanaged, and spoken down to, this is the place for you! For everyone else, hold onto your self-respect and run far, far away.

TryHackMe Response

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. We genuinely care about feedback and always want to improve. TryHackMe has grown fast, and with that growth comes change and challenge. We’re proud to be bootstrapped and profitable, especially in a market where layoffs are common. That independence means we grow on our terms, reward performance with bonuses and focus on building long-term value. We recently ran a company-wide engagement survey to understand where we can do better and we’re using that feedback to drive meaningful change. Our people team is rolling out initiatives to strengthen communication, enhance our offering and build a culture where people feel genuinely connected and supported. We’re a founder-led company and that won’t be the right fit for everyone, but for those who want real ownership, close collaboration and influence with decision-makers and the chance to shape a product with global impact, it’s an exciting place to be. We’re lucky to work alongside an ambitious, talented team who care deeply about what we’re building. We know there’s always more to do and we’re listening, learning and making TryHackMe a great place to work as we scale.

1.0

27 Nov 2025

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

very good and collaborative team

Cons

Overworking is a must if you want to keep your job, low pay (location based) which is racist. They force you to install monitoring software, and the only benefit you will get is your actual salary (don't expect any pay raise). Overall just not worth it.

TryHackMe Response

6mo

We’re sorry your experience felt this way. TryHackMe is a scaling company and there are periods of high pace where some teams may work longer hours, particularly around launches. We are open about this during the interview process so expectations are clear. For many people, that pace also comes with opportunities to work on exciting projects and meaningful initiatives with real career growth that they wouldn't be exposed to elsewhere. We use location based pay based on local market rates and cost of living indexes. This approach is not connected to race or background, and it’s designed to keep compensation competitive and fair across the 34 regions that we employ in. This means employees aren’t disadvantaged by where they live. We review our salary bands regularly and are transparent about how we benchmark compensation. We do not use employee activity monitoring software, and we have no intention of ever doing so. We use an MDM solution to meet security and compliance standards to maintain our ISO 27001 certification. This enforces protections such as encryption, patching, antivirus and screen lock policies. It is limited to device level security settings and cannot view, collect or access content stored on the device. Finally, we have held 3 rounds of pay review this year, including a cost of living adjustment at the start of the year for all eligible staff, and performance related pay rises, bonuses and promotions. You were not eligible for the former as you were paid at the highest end of your salary band for your role and location. For any future candidates, we welcome questions about workload, pay and security tooling during the interview process. Thanks

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TryHackMe

What are you trying to achieve in your software engineering department? - Software Engineer TryHackMe Employee Review

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