Pros
Ability to work from home
Cons
- monitored via video snapshot every 10 minutes -monitored via desktop screenshots every 1 minute - every keystroke and mouse click logged - no innovation - middling executive team without wins or achievements in other companies - no loyalty from company to staff or management - serious lack of creative talent on staff in all departments - middle managers with no experience leading - forced to take one unpaid week off every quarter To be fair Aurea Software does not bill itself as an innovative or creative software company. They are nothing like Apple, Google or Microsoft. In fact I'd venture they do not have passion for the software industry. They're more like the company in the movie "Wall Street" that buys failing companies, breaks them apart, fires everyone and sells what remains (with a little twist). Make no mistake--when working at Aurea Software, you quickly understand you are working for a private equity firm with a specific model to generate a specific return on investment for a specific set of people. The model is to buy failed or failing software products, rebrand them, put as little effort into them as possible and sell them as part of an "unlimited" subscription package, boasting a portfolio of x number of products--which have all been purchased from failed or failing software companies. Once the failed software is rebranded, customer support teams are staffed with fledgling recruits with little to no experience who push customer issues to the back burner, promising solutions are "coming soon" from engineering. Sales and account management teams are under constant pressure by executives to push software solutions that don't exist. Aurea Software has a team that puts together Powerpoint presentations (click throughs) which are little more than dressed up wireframes. Unless customers ask specifically, the impression is the demonstrated software is built and ready to ship (it isn't). The executive staff and executive leadership team (ELT) are excessively bureaucratic. On top of that (or due to that) most executives are middling and have achieved no measurable success at other companies. Many come from the consultant world and have limited STEM exposure and little exposure to creative/disruptive thinking. You can easily find out how successful or unsuccessful Aurea executives were at their previous roles by searching online or talking to folks that knew them at other companies and draw your own conclusions. Aurea is filled with folks who consider themselves managers, however you will be hard pressed to find a leader among the entire pool of middle managers and senior executive managers. If you know the difference between a manager and a leader, you know why this distinction matters. If you're looking for a passionate, inspirational, forward looking company, keep looking. If you're looking to work with creative and talented innovators, keep looking. If you're looking to work with below average software and below average leadership, Aurea might be a good fit.