The development work done is quite simplistic and you won't learn much. It's almost just busy work. There is also extremely limited career opportunities to be had. You basically need to cross your fingers that one of the small group of experienced developers quits and pray they don't hire from outside the company to have any upward mobility. SDS is effectively a dead end job for developers and you'll regret working here and feel like you wasted years of your life.
Sounds like it could just be chill to not worry about trying to be promoted? Wrong! It is a constant game of whack a mole. Your plate of tasks will be constantly overflowing and you'll be stressed out of your mind. The second you complete something, three more things will be dropped on you to finish. Need some help with something? Everyone else is too busy to help you so good luck! "I'll just read the documentation" you say? Well surprise surprise there isn't any. It's literally just the code explains the code strategy. Fun stuff!
I'll just power through and employ strategies to keep up with everything. Nope! The amount of red tape you have to navigate is astounding and they're only adding to it. Only a small handful of the busiest people in the company are able to review and approve almost any request or project for a client. If none of them are able to get to it, then guess what it's your fault for some reason!
Everything is breaking constantly. Always embarrassing being on a call with a client and our services go down. Clients will ask for RCA documentation and internal teams are always like which one? Company backburners system integrity and growing tech debts frequently and focuses on bringing on more clients onto a shaky platform.
At least the work is fulfilling right? Wrong! This company perpetuates a healthcare system that ruins lives. Their sole mission is to help health insurance companies make more money and take a cut of it. During a company wide townhall meeting, upper management bragged about how a new client was able to lay off an entire team after SDS automated their jobs then clapped their hands after like those people didn't have families or anything.
The CEO? I bet you, yes you dear reader, could do a better job by just googling "How to be a CEO" and winging it. There were at least two occasions where I've seen an article pop up on a feed with a title like "Why CEOs are now pushing for xyz", then magically the next day the CEO is preaching that xyz is now a company focus like it's this amazing new idea he had. Additionally, he is hilariously tech illiterate. Maybe not super relevant to be a CEO, but funny for a tech company with a tech illiterate leader. Also the company holiday party disappeared after he came along. Kinda tells you all you need to know right there.
Well maybe I'll just jump in anyway and work hard and it'll be rewarded? Don't! Do the bare minimum all year? Your raise is 3%. Work super hard all year? Believe it or not, 3%
At least I can work and make friends amongst some diverse coworkers. Wrong again! Outside of the offshore employees they pay starvation wages to, the roles they deem must be done onshore are filled by 98% white people.
Also you'll never not sound like a nerd telling people you work at Smart Data Solutions. A nerd in a bad way though. Nerd stuff is cool and there is something for everyone, but sheesh not like this please