Bowman Systems Reviews

not much perks and benefits

The largest con I can point to with a single overarching certainty is that it's suppose to be a technology company but it's bring run (poorly) by un-technical people. It effects all the decisions that are made and every change in direction. It presents itself as doing noble work for Non-Profit industries. But the company is very much FOR profit. It's not selling these contracts to companies for free or a sense of duty to the community. It filled a vacuum in the early days of digital records management and now it finds itself sustaining on the fact that it's more expensive and time exhaustive to replace the software than it is to just keep using a flawed product. The cancer is literally is cheaper than the cure. The contracts themselves are a constant strain on development and data because more times than I can count, they were created promising features that did not exist in the software and signed by customers before it could even be reviewed for due diligence by development to understand the technical debt would actually be for the team. But again that points to one of the many, MANY management problems. Decisions are made by a small group of people, aside from the "regular" employees and then handed down. This is showcased every quarter as they have they're "planning meetings" in full view of the rest of the employees, while the office manager scurries around to lay out serving trays of snacks, glassware for their coffee or other beverage of choice, and collects all other dining requirements that days. But have no fear! You'll usually get a mass email in the late afternoon offering up what snacks management did not feel like eating that day up for the regular employees to finish off! Hooray! Left over, day old cake that the more "important" folks had rejected! There's no real sense of being involved. There's no sense of building a product and achieving a success. It's a constant scramble to finish "this feature" or "add this module" because "it's been promised to a customer". You don't come here to learn new technologies, or build new applications. This is DEFINITELY NOT a "start up". I believe I saw that in a review, and it's painfully laughable to consider a company that's 15 years old a "start up". There's no coffee bar, office arcade or live streaming of tech events. You come to maintain a ship from sinking, and every leak you patch causes two more. So that's the work environment in a nutshell. You find yourself working desperately to force a product to fit the newest contract that was sold by a manager who's motivation was the sales commission and sees those below him as cheaply replaced interchangeable tools. Well below market salaries, raises and reviews were not being offered during my time there. Standard vacation/sick time offerings. The legal minimum for healthcare options provided, which doesn't somehow prevent it being pointed out that the owner "generously pays half of the employee's premium. So be prepared to pay for all benefits health, eye and dental. The one bright spot was a 3% contribution to a 401K fund, but they consider this part of your salary, it's non-negotiable and it's tied to a standard 5 year vestment process.