Makersquare Reviews

4.2

90% would recommend to a friend

(29 total reviews)
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Harsh Patel

100% approve of CEO

85% positive business outlook

Makersquare has an employee rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, based on 29 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Makersquare employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

29 reviews
1.0
12 Nov 2014

great classes but terrible/nonexistent management

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great concept, and from what I can tell, a great experience and class for the students. Most instructors really care and work hard for their students, and the curriculum is good, and always evolving. Lots of freedom to work on your own schedule, take on responsibilites you cared about, and great coworkers. But...

Cons

We had absolutely no management. Too many founders trying to simultaneously play entrepreneur and avoid doing the hard work of managing people. Got "managers" assigned so the founders could avoid speaking to us for weeks at a time. Terrible office space, lack of desks or comforts or quiet space, no sense of scheduling or being accountable or on time to anything. We were constantly being told things that never materialized, or not told before things changed, and students complained about similar problems as well. Terrible salary, below what you'd expect, even if it is a "startup". I'm tired of hearing the "but it's a startup" excuse, which was used for everything from snacks to salary to events to why the founders were blowing off people's meetings. Founders claim to be busy, tell you they'll do things and never do, and actively avoid talking to you about hard situations. Difficult to get your work done when you're being avoided, and they always find a way to blame it on you. One of the founders took up a whole week asking for feedback and meetings about his personal communication style, personal problems, fitness hobbies, and general inability to function like an adult around other people. Most of the response was, "you need to separate work from personal" which he completely brushed off. Immature and incompotent. If MakerSquare succeeds it's because they have a good class, and will be despite the founders, not because of them.

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Makersquare Response
11y
Thank you for the feedback. Thank you also for acknowledging that the program is a "great experience and class for the students". After all, servicing students is what everyone working at MakerSquare cares about, so it's encouraging to hear that even with your very negative perception of the company, at least this was seen as positive from your perspective. Also, giving staff freedom to work on their own schedule is something that's really valued, and I'm glad you noticed it as such. Providing responsibilities that staff cares about and wants to take on is also a conscious decision, so I'm glad you noticed that being played out. I'd like to address each complaint specifically. In terms of the office space, you'll notice it's much improved. There are quiet areas, semi-quiet areas, low traffic areas, and high traffic areas for staff to work in, depending on their mood. There are also individual work areas throughout the building. I believe these are things that were put in place due to this exact feedback from staff, and within 30 days, the working environment had improved. I apologize you felt there were things that never materialized. I'd also like to address the salary complaint. I have been involved in each hiring decision, and in each decision, founders have been proactive in determining a salary that staff is comfortable with, and meeting it, exceeding it, or putting in a pre-determined schedule for meeting it. This has been the case in every hiring decision, and it seems you did not feel this way, or have changed your feeling about it. This discrepancy in the process and everyone's reaction towards it is confusing, so I will assume there was a misinterpretation on my end as to your initial feeling about compensation discussions. I will be sure that in the future, there are triple checks in place for making sure staff is comfortable with their compensation. In terms of founders not being available - I apologize you felt this way. There has been frequent communication via Slack, Text Messaging, E-mail, and Basecamp to prevent this feeling, but it seems like it was not enough to ensure you felt comfortable reaching out about your feelings. As an anecdote, all current students and alumni have direct access to founders via a simple Slack Direct Message, which many students have taken advantage of, and have publicly shown their appreciation of it. Your feedback about a founder taking up a week asking for feedback - this has been received with positive feedback amongst many of the current staff saying it was great to have very transparent feedback mechanisms. It is unfortunate that you did not feel this way, and I apologize that you felt so strongly about the situation without it being addressed. Thank you for the advice to management, I can assure you none of the founders treat MakerSquare as a game. It's what keeps us working 80 hour weeks (yes, 11+hours per day, every day), and it's what is at the top of our minds at any given hour of the day. It's unfortunate you had such a negative experience while you were employed at MakerSquare, it was certainly sub-par as you are describing it. I wish you the best of luck in future endeavors. Again, thank you for the feedback, as it will be used to improve the experience for current and future staff.
5.0
28 Apr 2015

Fun, exciting, and lots of opportunity.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great company that has a true mission and fosters growth in its employees. Each employee really cares about the students, alumni, and company as a whole. It's refreshing to see how much staff goes out of their way to help others. The culture is great and it's a very positive place to be.

Cons

MakerSquare is still in startup mode... which is fun and exciting, but sometimes can require long hours, flexibility, and the wearing of many hats! --To me, this isn't really seen as a con, as it's helped me grow both professionally as well as personally... but I know this type of environment is not for everyone.

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Makersquare Response
11y
Thanks for the positive feedback! I'm happy you've been able to grow professionally as well as personally in your time at MakerSquare. You're absolutely right that the "wearing of many hats" type of environment is not for everyone, and we do our best to show new recruits the type of environment they would be stepping into during the interview process. Recently, this has been a winning strategy :)
5.0
28 Apr 2015

Forward thinking company working to promote 21st century education

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The staff are wonderful: smart, kind, and motivated by their work. The students are motivated and excited to learn with instructors that are very happy to be teaching.

Cons

Things move very quickly, sometimes without the needed framework/strategy plan.

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Makersquare Response
11y
Thanks for the positive feedback!
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Glassdoor has 39 Makersquare reviews submitted anonymously by Makersquare employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Makersquare is right for you.