rating for Softscape

My Point of View posted by ib15 on November 21, 2008

Hello Reader,

First things first, I'd like to get the formalities out of the way. My name is Igor and I'm currently an Engineering Manager at Softscape. I want to share some of my opinions and experiences at Softscape so that potential employees get another point of view. As you can tell, I'm not doing this anonymously since I feel like I shouldn't be writing anything here if I'm ashamed or afraid to put my name on it. Reading through the existing reviews, I find that the experiences reported by people seem to fall into one of two categories: either somewhere not too far above a job as an African diamond miner or, on the other end of the spectrum, a less stressful and better paying version of a massage chair tester. I believe that the truth is, as usual, somewhere in the middle.

I came to Softscape just over four years ago soon after I graduated from college. I started as a fairly underpaid, but also completely unproven, developer in the company's Professional Services group. Within 6 months (when I began to prove myself, as I like to think about it) I got a raise and after 6 more I got a second raise to get me to market average. Now, about four and a half years out of school, I have "Manager" in my job title and I'm looking to build out my team (that being the main reason I'm posting). In the past four years, I have traveled abroad (Bangkok twice for several weeks at a time), I have learned more about software development than I could list on a resume, I have been involved in almost every phase of a product and project life cycle, and I have gained management experience that I doubt I would get at any other company. If nothing else, I don't think I'll ever be concerned about not having enough to talk about in an interview.

When I started Softscape was a 7 year old start up with a ton of open deals and new features needing people to work on them. I can certainly understand why people felt that they were thrown in to the thick of it as soon as they joined without a ton of support (be it documentation or hand holding) because there's a bit of truth to that. The state of the company was such that it there was simply not enough time or resources to, for instance, spend a week to document old functionality when that week could be spent to develop new functionality to close a deal (that generates revenue that pays the bills). The expectation was that employees (new and old) could overcome the obstacles and figure things out for themselves and get the job done, but perhaps that expectation was not always communicated to everyone who came on board. Back then, we didn't have some luxuries that we have now like an official Documentation Manager and a Sustained Engineering team that helps the field with product issues. As a result, Softscape upper management put a premium on independent thought, the ability to figure things out, and getting things done.

Speaking of upper management, my view of the management and ownership is this: they take care of the employees that make positive contributions to the company. Whatever else they may be (and personally, I think some of the descriptions of them are somewhat exaggerated), the executives of this company are very intelligent people and will do what's in the best interest of the company. If you are intelligent, hard working, and get the job done they will reward you more than many other places and do what it takes to keep you around: it's that simple. In my view, most of the people that got fired at Softscape didn't get fired for no good reason, they got fired because they were not meeting expectations. Are those expectations high? Absolutely, but the reward for meeting them is also worthwhile.

Regarding the product, I may be biased since I spend most days working on it, but I believe it's actually very very good. It's very complex (several million lines of code) but it is very powerful. Documentation (both, user and developer) on the product is growing and many tasks that used to take days are now automated. I have always considered the product to be one of the biggest strengths of this company and one of the biggest reasons that a relatively small company such as Softscape can compete with companies many times Softscape's size.

Here's the bottom line. If you're a prospective employee and looking for a huge company that resembles Dilbert-land where you can get lost in the shuffle and struggle to stay awake through some mind numbing task for exactly 40 hours every week, this is not the place for you. If you're looking for an opportunity to gain knowledge in a vast array of fields and get experience you would get at few other companies, this is the place for you. If you're looking for a fast paced environment that will challenge you on an almost daily basis, and most importantly reward you when you succeed, this is the place for you. Many of the complaints people have made regarding this company (poor documentation and processes, for instance) are truly improving on a daily basis. And to be truthful, many problems remain, just like at every other job out there. Furthermore, it bears mentioning that everybody here is facing the same challenges, which I feel drives people closer together and makes work a lot more fun. If you're smart, hard working, and know what it takes to get the job done, the opportunity to get rewarded and grow exists at Softscape, and I'll be looking forward to speaking with you.

-Igor

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