Former employee writing with a few months of perspective
Pros
First let me say that working at Alarm.com (ADC) was an amazing experience for me. But I joined at a time where a lot of my positive moments were with the ADC of old. This is no longer a mid-growth stage startup, and the company that this is today is a far cry from the one I joined. So it's hard for me to objectively give both these pros and cons. But I will try my best to note a few pros that were still relevant by the time of my departure. The people and culture are awesome- If you enjoy a place where you could and would actually want to hang out with coworkers outside of work, this is that place. Culture- pay is not everything. ADC puts in a lot of work in creating a great working atmosphere and planning many fun and enjoyable events. Very trendy tech- Just look at all of the buzz around IoT and smart homes in the press. This is a great launch pad for roles in the future and amazing to put on your CV. Autonomy- I found that a lot of my work had a lot of autonomy which was very nice (however, that trend was diminishing over time) Non-government tech in DC- So you want to work for a true tech company in the DC area, and not work in the government sector... Well of course you're reading this, ADC is on a short list ; )
Cons
Okay, again, this comes from the view of my last few months at the firm: Advancement- If you want to advance beyond your current role (or beyond that), you should have joined 3+ years ago. They are going to hire middle and top management from outside the company (probably old friends of the executives) and that's just how things are going to be. Period. It's not that those outside hires are going to necessarily be bad, some are, some aren't, but those roles are not going to you. You will work until you realize the gig they are playing, then you will leave, write a Glassdoor review, and then get replaced by the next guy/gal and the cycle will continue. Compensation- I left for a job with fewer hours and more than twice the pay. This is in no way an exaggeration. Now, to be fair, my experience with those stats is not at all the norm. But given my time and impact to the firm, it highlights just how intense of an effect year after year of small incremental raises can have on your salary. I was working so hard and for so long, I simply didn't realize how much the skills I built would go for in the market until I searched. Pease don't be the next person here or anywhere else to stay too long. Sentiment- the two above things create one big issue, discontent. As a poorly formed analogy, working for ADC is like Dorthy going into Oz: First you just get your bearings figuring out where you are (like any company), then you meet some great people who all want to work together and reach a common goal, but then you realize this place is not what you thought it was and you want to get out. This manifests itself in lots of young employees who are hard working and supper happy with the culture and lots of older employees (2+ years, so not actually old) disgruntled but holding on hope that "soon things will be better here."
