Pros
Small company with the small company vibe. They get things done faster since there's less bureaucracy in the way than there is in larger companies. The C-suit likes to know everybody that works in the company and takes the time to meet with everyone. The company is very agile in what they work on, again because being a small company allows decisions to be made faster than in a large company. Contracts and assignments change frequently in Data Science, but I consider that a pro not a con because it keeps the work fresh and allows me to exercise many different skills, not get stuck in a routine run. 100% remote with no expectation to return to office "after covid" like so many jobs on the market right now. We have very regular team meetings, so everyone stays in touch and gets socialization with each other, but we can do so from out own homes if we want to. Very flexible on work times whenever possible. Sometimes a contract requires work at a specific time, but usually if you have a doctor appt or some other personal requirement then they are happy to let you work around your own schedule. Overtime and holiday pay is a HUGE bonus coming from salary work. Benefits are just okay. The small company vibe is fantastic, though, and pay is pretty great. Work life balance is very achievable as long as you have a flexible schedule yourself. Overall I love it, and can't imagine going back to a large company!
Cons
It's a great place to work, but in the interest of full disclosure I'll list the cons I can think of. Sometimes the hours can run long, and sometimes weekend work is needed. It is completely dependent on the contract. Most of the time it's 9-5 weekdays, but it can change. The overtime and holiday pay helps make this bearable, but it's still never fun to work the odd 10+ hour day or Saturday. Sometimes benefits are a bit quirky. For example, you can't have overtime on a week where you're taking PTO. If you work 40 hours over 4 days and take Friday off they will charge 8 hours of your PTO for being out of pocket on Friday, but they won't allow you to take 8 hours overtime for the extra work earlier in the week, so basically you lose a full day of PTO and don't get the extra overtime bonus for the 8 extra hours worked Mon-Thu, you will only get paid the normal 40 hours but still dinged on losing a day of PTO. If you work here you just learn to never work overtime on a pay-period where you're taking PTO. You'll never be certain on the time or energy requirement to expect next week. Some weeks there is downtime for training or exploring new tools, because our clients don't have tasks for us immediately, and other times you'll be having to work overtime or weekends to get the job done. Improvix does try to give good work life balance, and usually they succeed in being very flexible, but the commitment of hours per week can change drastically, which doesn't work for everyone's schedule.
