A strong learning opportunity with great benefits and people
Pros
People: This company has some of the best people from top to bottom. Skill building: For a software developer with junior/mid level experience, this company is a good growth opportunity. Once you’re up and running, the company has no problem giving you responsibility and letting you run with the ball. At the same time, there are a lot of seniors and peers that you can ask for help. It’s a very good balance and you’ll find the environment to be congenial and collaborative. I was able to leverage my existing skills on projects while upskilling in other areas of the web stack where I needed it. By the same token, when you take the ball and run, a reasonable amount will be expected of you. You’ll need to be prepared to answer questions from clients and help other developers. You get to work in a wide variety of domains as a part of this job and it’s pretty fun and dynamic. Applying software development principles across multiple domains will only make you stronger. Welfare: Within the last year the company has improved when it comes to checking in on your job satisfaction, how you are feeling, and where you want to go. This is a big improvement and I feel like middle management has worked hard on this recently. Management: Upper management has a very light touch. As a developer, you don’t hear from the president much but he also isn’t micromanaging you. He trusts his teams and knows they’re doing the right thing. I see this as a pro but I know a lot of people might want a stronger presence from their upper management. Figure out how much this matters to you before taking the job. Middle management is very reflective, introspective, and always adapting to feedback. The company has adapted pretty quickly to employee feedback within the last year. Pay, benefits, treatment: I found the pay to be pretty competitive and I got solid increases regularly without needing to bargain or ask. The benefits are top notch and some of the best. I know the main office had some frills that other people liked but those things mattered less to me. I was always treated well and with respect. AltSource pays you hourly. It is a very good deal but it’s much different than any company I had worked for before. This is very much a direct-charge environment so if you don’t know how that works, make sure you understand how pay and time tracking work before taking the job.
Cons
Transition: The company has gone through a lot of transition within the last year that I worked there (2021). A lot of people left that I really enjoyed working with and this is what primarily motivated me to leave. There are still some great folks at this company and I think they are going to do well in the future. For now, projects are a little chaotic while some gaps are being filled. Advancement: The company did not grow in the way we had anticipated and the extra chaos made advancement difficult and unpredictable. I was expecting to advance a certain way and work with particular clients in the future of the business. Unfortunately, things shifted. Some contracts did not land right away and many key people left the company. I helped to fill new gaps and took on extra responsibility. While I learned a lot from the experience, the way my career had advanced was not what I wanted long term. If you want to advance as a US-based developer, you will need to be open to product ownership work, staff augmentation, and collaboration with offshore teams. If you want to advance as an individual contributor, your career path will be limited. Pressure: Working in a direct-charge environment under tight estimates can sometimes be stressful but if you communicate well about why and how the work is coming along, you will do just fine. If you impose high expectations on yourself, be aware. You can be your own worst enemy here. Recent staffing gaps have increased some pressure on existing projects but luckily the staffing gaps are top-of-mind and being addressed.
