14 West Career Development FAQ

Pros

14 West offers a supportive culture with great opportunities for growth and career development. I love coming to work with an amazing and creative team of people in a collaborative, casual yet challenging environment.

Cons

Not a con per se, but if you are not a motivated self-starter, this may not be the best fit for you.

Pros

Lots of opportunity for advancement, exposure to lots of different areas

Cons

Leadership is very impatient, lack of respect for employees when adversity hits

Pros

14 West emulates Baltimore’s charm in its offices, unique people and overall passion. I’ve been with the company for almost five years. Each year, I’ve had the opportunity to meet amazing people. I’ve worked with marketing teams, an international development group and a legal team during my time – not one day is identical to the next. Each opportunity required a love of learning, an entrepreneurial mindset and some grit. Our businesses are based on strong ideas, and there are opportunities (and support) if you’re willing to take risks and bet on your ideas. 14 West calls Mount Vernon, the cultural center of Baltimore, home. The company culture engages the neighborhood with discounts to local stores, gym memberships and events in Mount Vernon and throughout the city. Personal benefits also include a 401k program, health/education benefits and work from home flexibility. At 14 West the benefits help build a “good” life both in and out of the office.

Cons

Are you willing to fail? A traditional training program is not guaranteed at 14West, so you must be resilient. Be willing to chart your own course. Be aware - learn to communicate effectively and kindly and know when to ask for help and when to “figure it out.”

Pros

- Great co-workers - Employee autonomy - Remote flexibility (pre-covid) - Training and certification opportunities

Cons

When I joined in 2019 there was so much optimism and excitement regarding the rapid expansion of the company. In that year there was a major hiring surge that I was a part of. A year later there have been significant layoffs every several months in 2020, and not all impacted by covid. While I appreciate the opportunity to have gained a lot of experience and work with exciting products, the morale has taken a nose-dive and there is not much confidence in leadership. The company went through an agile transformation in 2019, however progress has been stunted because leadership does not trust people to do their job. There is too much pushback on initiatives and too many concessions have to be made to keep the people who have been there for 100 years comfortable. There are talented people who have been let go, while there are people who joined the company (during my tenure) who are still in leadership positions yet contribute absolutely nothing, and have made the organization even more bureaucratic.