For those of you who are going to join here as a Software Engineer, READ THIS.The good thingsWorking here is an incredible opportunity to immerse yourself in a startup culture. There are some internal programs, called Bit Fit: an internal program to have a sport together, in Zoom meeting, which held once in a while. We have another program to share any useful topics (sharing session) throughout lunchtime (I forgot the name of the program) as well.
This place is a perfect place for those of you who seek work-life balance, at least during my stay here. We rarely have overtime unless the urge for urgent things from Prakerja is expected to be done ASAP. We actually have an education budget to upgrade our skills which is very beneficial to take some online courses or professional certification for every skill that we want to improve at. In addition, we also have a medical budget to reimburse your medical expense, in case you got sick someday. The last but not least, the company rewards one employee with a significant amount of money for outstanding performance during a specific period*
This place suits you if you have less expectation of your career development, especially in Software Engineering. Also, if you only want to be a mediocre person in terms of your hard skill in Software Engineering.
* terms and conditions apply, require a new agreement to be signed
P.S I'm holding myself to give 3 stars, 4 stars would be more than enough
The challengesI try to say my review as objectively as possible, according to the fact. This might be a hard pill to swallow.
1. This place has an unshaped and immature culture, especially for the Engineering team. The company doesn't have a person in charge of the Engineering team (i.e. CTO or Tech Lead) with sufficient engineering experience, and the owner doesn't really know how the engineering really works in best practice. Do not expect someone to guide you on your daily basis. If you don't have a self-thought skill, you won't be able to survive here because no one, not even the owner, will be able to guide you through your career as an engineer. The company's main goal is only to focus on content and marketing, not engineering. So do not ever expect to have a great team with sophisticated technology to learn and hone your skill as a Software Engineer. You only work to deliver the features to be done ASAP, that's it. The fact is, there is no such thing as career development and room to grow here, especially in the Engineering team. So make sure to take advantage of your education budget to upgrade your skill.
2. The company has a way to retain you by force, in a way to penalize you if you resign before the end of the contract, at an impossible amount to pay. You will be offered 3 months of probation, and a 1-year contract (contract duration may vary) as the initial contract (PKWT) after passing the probation. After that, you probably get a permanent contract (PKWTT) if your performance meets expectations. The silly thing is the permanent contract requires you to have a 3-month notice before resigning no matter your position, and you are obligated to find your replacement before leaving the company. While in fact, the normal notice period is only 1 month for staff levels, and the obligation to seek for replacement is the HR’s duty, not us. This would be a hindrance if you are planning to move to another company. So think about this before signing the contract. You have been warned.
3. During my stay, as far as I know, the salary of engineers is relatively below the average standard. That's because as I said before, the company tends to focus on content and marketing rather than engineering. Well, it depends on your negotiation, though. Because this is a quite sensitive topic, you have to know your worth. Do some market research on the average salary of your current position before negotiating the salary.