Pros
Andela is easily my favorite place I've ever worked. Here are my favorite things about working here: ▪ Consistent feedback - I always know how management feels about me and the work that I produce, and I'm never surprised by feedback during year-end or mid-year reviews. ▪ Great opportunities - I'm given the chance to work on projects that are exciting to me and align with the ways in which I want to grow. ▪ Flexibility - Not only are we fully and permanently WFH, but I'm also given the flexibility to work hours that fit my life. As long as I'm still getting my work done and attending meetings that I commit to, I can work during hours that make sense for my life. This has been HUGE as a parent of a toddler. ▪ Work-Life Balance - I am not required to put my work email or Slack on my cell phone, and my team has been open from the beginning about not having these on their own cell phones. ▪ Pay - I was asked my salary requirements during the interview process and when the offer came through it was 25% higher than I had asked for, because that's what they had expected to pay/had budgeted for the role. I know the bar is low, but it felt great to realize that they weren't going to take advantage of me underselling myself. ▪ Promotions - I frequently see Andela choose to promote someone from within to an open position whenever possible, and it's been cool to see people grow in their careers here. In addition to the above, here are a few things I've seen improve over the last year or so that I've been here: ▪ Recognition - Our feedback survey noted a lack of recognition in the company, so a platform was rolled out last year that allows managers to recognize employees, as well as inter-team and cross-functional recognition. The recognition is on a point system too, and the points can be redeemed for things like gift cards or cash payouts ▪ Values - Andela did a "values refresh" last year where everyone was asked to share their personal thoughts on all of our values. The values were then updated, where the least popular ones were outright removed, the poorly-worded ones were reworded, and a couple of new values appeared that reflect positively on the business and culture. ▪ Benefits - The benefits were a little bit sparse when I first got here, but there's been consistent improvement and additions to the benefits provided, like mental health support (with actual therapists and coaches), stipends for WFH equipment or fitness, and in the US, our insurance had infertility coverage and adult ortho added to our plans.
Cons
There are a few of things I would consider cons, but I think I would also consider them natural properties of a growing start-up: ▪ Constant changes - Andela is always making changes, both to the structure of the company/employees and to the processes and procedures. It can be hard to stay on top of who does what or what new process we have to follow, though I will say that there's a good amount of support from your team when you're trying to figure out the right thing to do. ▪ No 401k match - I think it's important to note that we get stock options, which is viewed as an alternative, but it's the first company I've ever worked at that doesn't match 401k at all. Also, I marked DE&I as 4/5 stars mostly because I don't know much about ongoing efforts. I was put through DE&I training as a part of onboarding and take additional classes each year, but I can't speak to anything beyond that.