Yesterday marked exactly two years since I started working at Avito.
During this time, I’ve significantly grown as a professional.
I have an excellent team that supports one another, helps achieve results, and is always ready to share leisure time.
Of course, there’s a sense that not everyone is as fortunate with their colleagues, and situations can vary. But this is precisely why the final interview (or fit interview) exists; I had three of them when I was hired.
When people ask me where it’s best to work, I often encourage them to aim for large companies, especially young professionals, as this is where you can build a solid foundation on “how to do things right.”
Let me try to analyze the pros and cons I’ve observed during this time.
👍 Several Reasons to Aim for Companies Like Avito:
The reasons are listed in no particular order. Each one is vital, and without one, the others lose their value.
- Engineering Culture
Big Tech is an environment filled with top-notch specialists and technologies, and interacting with them can rapidly elevate your technical level.
- Mature Processes
The company is motivated to keep employees for as long as possible (since hiring is costly), so it ensures there are opportunities for continuous development.
For example, to facilitate grade growth, there are performance reviews, and for assessing employee satisfaction, there are one-on-one meetings with managers, where open discussions about any concerns are encouraged to help preemptively address issues.
- Compensation and Community
This includes aspects related to hygiene factors: salary, medical insurance, a friendly environment, and more.
According to internal feelings and feedback from colleagues, everything is excellent here.
- Attachment to the Product
Another important criterion in favor of a particular company can be personal attachment to the product.
For example, I use Avito almost every day and often notice issues in the product that I can immediately discuss with colleagues from other verticals to think about how we can improve it.
This energizes me and provides a truly great sense of satisfaction in what I do.
👎 Several Reasons to Avoid Companies Like Avito:
- Slow Grade Growth
While the processes regarding growth are transparent, sometimes it can be very challenging to transition to the next level. Factors such as the absence of tasks critical for justifying your promotion can come into play.
Nevertheless, a lot depends on your desire to develop; the company offers many opportunities for this that you should take advantage of.
- Transparency of Top Management Decisions
Sometimes, managers make unpopular decisions that are difficult for regular employees to understand, and communication can be untimely or even nonexistent.
- Loss of Flexibility
Rapidly growing companies gradually lose flexibility in processes for the sake of security, which can affect the overall atmosphere. This can impact employee “happiness.”
- Minor Tasks
Despite the technological nature of the company, there can often be situations where instead of tackling serious challenges, you’re faced with small tasks that are important for the business but not as interesting for you as a professional.
While in a startup, there’s an opportunity to build an MVP from scratch, working on many tasks of varying complexity, in Big Tech, you may find yourself “painting a button” or “rearranging JSON.”
Nonetheless, for me, the pros outweigh the cons. So, if you’re fortunate enough to land a job at such a company, I recommend staying to gain valuable experience and become even stronger.
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