I love TransferWise! Exceptional culture and a mission that makes a difference!
Pros
I'll start by saying that I love working at TransferWise! It's been about 5 months and I really enjoy my job, but I absolutely love the office and company culture, as well as the values which are actually lived, and not just marketing fluff. So my pros are: - Super friendly/welcoming atmosphere & in-office camaraderie from day 1 - Great mission that is actually helping everyday people. How many companies have a goal to make themselves obsolete for the benefit of their customers? - The benefits are exceptional for the US. I've never seen anyone else come close, benefits-wise here. INSANE amount of PTO (46 days, all in), insurance is low-cost & good coverage, 401k w/ match, sabbatical after 4 years, stock options, some company paid benefits too - Awesome regular team events & annual trip to Europe for Summer Days to keep everyone motivated & mission focused - Weekly catered team lunches + all kinds of breakfast food, fruit, & drinks/coffee free in the office for employees - The office is really cool (people say "mini-Google" all the time), dog-friendly, has a decent gym in the office, & flexible work opportunities (you are expected to be in the office 80% of the time though) - Autonomous team structure offers huge levels of autonomy, ownership, & responsibility, with no one looking over your shoulder, micromanaging you or endless red-tape/approvals to go through - Really transparent & feedback reliant culture that limits the drama & helps us move fast - Lots of opportunities to move up & around in the company & find what you really love, potentially within 6 months - year as we keep growing - Personally, I like that we don't have a dress code & everyone is encouraged to be themselves. Sometimes it's just a sweatpants & hoodie type of day - I'm always busy with my day-to-day responsibilities & additional side-projects, so I'm always stimulated & never bored - I love working for such a diverse, global company. My team of 19 people has 14 nationalities & it's amazing when we're all together, so much fun learning from everyone. Very LGBT friendly & even the age range, experience, & education background of everyone is really broad and interesting - All the travel opportunities. So far, I've been to the New York & London offices, as well as Portugal for planning, with Budapest & Estonia trips in the near future (crossing my fingers for Singapore one day!) - Lots of support. Almost every chat with someone from my team includes "what do you need help with?" or "How can we/I support you?" I've never loved any place I've ever worked until now, so I don't say it lightly. This is by far the best experience of my professional career & I can't wait to see what the future holds as we grow. I will add though, that while travel opportunities are available for all positions in Tampa, my role requires more frequent travel (3 trips in 5 months so far), but that's not representative of all Tampa positions. Also, I'm a single US member on a global team spread across offices in 5 countries, so the levels of autonomy, ownership, and responsibility that I experience are even greater than some of the other teams in Tampa where the entire team is in the building. I just feel like those are fair comments to give context.
Cons
I personally don't have any cons, but I'll share some fair comments and also some things that other people may consider cons. - You're not going to get rich at TransferWise. We pay median salaries which are fair, but not outstanding. We can't compete with Google or Facebook & we don't try to. We now advertise salaries for all roles in Tampa, so you know what you're getting into & that's on you - If you need someone to hold your hand & tell you what to do every minute of the day, or if you need someone to fix all your problems for you, you will hate working here. You are responsible for your own work, end of, and it's a demanding job, so if you're looking for a place to coast by & grab a paycheck, keep coasting - If you have thin skin & can't give or receive feedback, you won't like it here. None of it is malicious, but we're not beating around the bush here either. If you make a mistake, someone will tell you so you don't make it again, & you're expected to do the same if you notice the mistake. Same thing goes for the good stuff too though, because we're all about recognizing accomplishments & giving credit where it's due - If you're only interested in the benefits & cool culture, but you don't care about the mission, we won't hire you. We want people who want to help others & change the financial world for the better, forever. If you're not about that, you need not apply - While there are some opportunities, the relatively flat corporate structure doesn't allow for a ton of upward mobility, so if you're just looking to climb the ladder, again, probably not a great fit. Much greater potential to move horizontally for new challenges and sometimes better pay - Timezones can be challenging, since Tampa has a 2-hour overlap with Estonia & a 5-hour overlap with London. Sometimes you'll have to back yourself & make a decision (at least I do in my role) & some people aren't comfortable with that. Even if you are comfortable with it, it takes time to get used to - Simply put, the start-up experience isn't for everyone I hope this has been helpful :)
