Andela as a company is full of grifters. This leads to many horrible issues that arise from the moral failings of the company. These are just but a few:
- Toxic culture where favoritism thrives
- They pay the fellows next to nothing and lie to both the media and partners how much they actually pay
- No work life balance to a point where some employees are getting to be hospitalized
- Most contracting companies are evil but Andela takes it to a whole new level. They market themselves to potential fellows as a company where once you are done with your fellowship you can continue working for the same partner. However, hidden in the contract is a clause which prevents you from being able to work for that partner once your fellowship is over. Most African youth who have just finished university don't have the resources to hire a lawyer to advice them on the contract which andela then goes ahead and pushes for you to sign immediately after they give it to you in their presence with no time too even read it by yourself. This contract also traps you from leaving andela since if you do you are liable to pay them a vast amount of money.
Now if you want to be a non fellow the problems above still apply but the one you should be particularly be aware of is the no work life balance. This will be a huge problem for you.
What is unfortunate is that the really talented fellow have been led to believe that they need andela which is just not true. There is no training that takes place the fellows teach themselves. These can be simply achieved by themselves without andela.
My advise, if you are looking for somewhere where you will be miserable and hate coming to work then Andela is the place for you otherwise avoid the place.