Pros
Interesting technology, you will learn or deepen marketable skills, impressive client list, good resume building
Cons
If you work on the tech side you will be over worked and underpaid.
This organization has a history of completing projects, not maintaining software or systems, which is what you will be tasked with if you are a developer or systems person.
You will be unsupported by middle and upper management to follow best practice when creating, deploying, securing, or maintaining systems.
This organization is highly reactive and lacks both a history of best practice and a current desire to operate from a proactive position.
There is a lot of "kicking the can down the road" at this organization. This results in front line developers and engineers having to put out fires on a very regular basis.
Multiple times in the short period I have worked here, myself or other engineers have advised we complete a task in the correct way. We were denied the time/resourcing to perform the task properly and as a result had to fix a crisis later on directly related to the advice that was ignored. I have seen this happen multiple times in less than 12 months. They create more work for their front line workers in the most annoying and unnecessary ways ever.
Downstream has below market pay for tech workers and PM's that support the software efforts.
Because the software efforts are under resourced you will not only be paid below market rate, you will also be required to wear multiple hats and fill multiple roles.
They will not hire additional people to support your efforts either. They will simply act like they hear you, change nothing, and continue asking you to work outside your scope and capacity.
I have worked in fast food restaurants. I've waited tables. I've worked retail. I have done construction. Worked at golf courses and resorts. I have worked in technology for some of the biggest tech orgs in the world(think Google, DOD, IBM, etc). I've been in the Army and been to war.
This is by far the most unnecessarily stressful jobs I have ever had. Period. I've had more stressful working environments, but none have been so unnecessarily stressful. This is the first place I have ever worked where the majority of the stress I have encountered was a direct result of poor decision making instead of the nature of the work.
I'm looking back and taking inventory as I write this. I am honestly kind of shocked how much of the stress has just been because middle managers at this design studio are trying to own and maintain software products. A process they are completely unfamiliar with.
Every other role I have filled where I have been met with stress, it was met WITH my leadership. We worked together to mitigate it. My experience at Downstream has been the opposite.
There is also no DEI or HR training which is frustrating and highly needed here. I'm a member of the LGBT+ community. It's not something I like to talk about at work but it is apart of who I am.
I have had multiple coworkers say inappropriate things to me or try to relate to me solely on the fact that I'm queer. I've had one coworker straight up ask me about my genitals which feels crazy to even write. I've had another coworker email me political mailers from their representative talking about pride month with the explanation "I thought you would like this because you're LGBT". Things like this are weird, rude, and uncomfortable. I'm not wearing rainbows in the office. I'm not talking about who I date or how I identify. These people just don't know how to interact with queer people. These are also not queer people. If they came to me in private and said "Hey I'm also queer, happy pride" or whatever it would be a different conversation. It would still be weird, but having straight, cis people talk to you about your queerness at work like you're some kind of museum exhibit is wild. These are perfect examples of why they need to do sensitivity training.
Shortly after getting a job here I also had one of my superiors add me on a dating site. I had only been here for a few months and I did not know at the time that he was my superior which I later learned.
I have been asking for over 6 months at this point for them to do some cultural training and it has gone nowhere. Just like the pay or expanding the team. They say they hear you, act like they're taking action, then radio silence again for months until it gets brought up again. They really do not care to make individual contributors feel comfortable or valued here.
They only care about pushing projects across finish lines.