Pros
Guild is really mission driven, and has a strong ethical core. There is a real and authentic desire to serve students, to continuously improve, and to be reflective on our work. There's plenty of exploitative spaces in education - Guild isn't one of them. I've been struck by... *The selectivity of their schools - they work exclusively with nonprofit colleges that hit certain metrics (around debt, graduation rates, satisfaction, etc...) among adult learners * The commitment between mission alignment and business metrics - our teams literally structure contracts so that we only make money when students are in school and successful. Most companies get paid for getting a student in a class, but we only get paid if they stay there and succeed. That's wild in this space. * The folks who get our students into courses are never told how much money Guild makes for getting students into a certain course - they operate entirely from a place of getting students into the right classes. I feel like I'm at a place that is really focused on long-term, sustainable outcomes. Internally, there's a real commitment to improving the experience and to educating ourselves. Things aren't perfect (see cons) but there are lots of avenues for feedback, it's taken seriously, and changes are made as a result. Plus the people here are a great mix - really smart, really committed, and fun to be around. I authentically enjoy coming into a day of work. We're B2B2C and work with big companies, front line employees, and universities - the result is an office that is a super cool mix of educators and entrepreneurs. That means a lot of different lenses and perspectives, but as someone who comes primarily from an education background I think it's an awesome environment to figure out how to scale good teaching/coaching nationwide.
Cons
First, it's a start up - I like the fluidity, but that means some processes you might want to exist simply don't. You've got to be ready to be resilient, and focus on the mission - when things aren't ideal this is a place you have to say "how can I help us improve this." That's not always easy. Our future looks really bright - but with that comes questions about scale and growth. Will we need a new office? Can we hire fast enough? Change and an uncertain future come with the package of working here.