Squiz Reviews

Pros

The culture at Squiz is supportive, vibrant, fun. I enjoyed coming to work each day to be with co-workers who became friends. We constantly challenged ourselves - everyone is very skilled and inspiring to be around. The Squiz DNA is apparent in everything that they do. I had opportunities to extend my skill set, and to travel interstate. I learnt a lot technically and also extended my "soft skills" a lot on this job. I became a mentor and trained new staff in our products, and I became very good at supporting customers over the phone, often being asked for by name by recurring customers. A complete turn-around to where I was before working at Squiz, I grew a lot thanks to this job. My immediate management was the best - technically savvy as well as good leaders. How often does it happen in IT that you can ask your boss for technical advice on how to do things, or have banter over the merits of encryption algorithms, or ways to enhance database queries? I really appreciated that. Also I really appreciated that I could rely on middle-management elsewhere in Squiz to have our backs (particularly in Melbourne), to Fight For Better, and to stop the BS, not be a DH, and help me to Find a Way (the Squiz Values don't pass Glassdoor's language censorship, which I find quite charming, and a strong Pro for Squiz, actually). Thanks to those Values being followed by team members, I was able to connect with anyone in the company for help on our customer's issues, and although my office was remote, we were constantly in the loop, and central to the day-to-day operations of the company.

Cons

Senior Management was not transparent, and it is difficult to discern the reasons behind a lot of the choices and directions taken, both technically and for the business. We were delayed for a long time with strategic infrastructure upgrades. Caused by a single individual with a lot of power and backing from the senior management. This cost the company a lot of extra work, risk, and money. After that individual left we were finally able to get on with the long overdue tasks. Still paying down technical debt because of this.