|
private:olark
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=754375
|
Nov 29th, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Olark
|
Product Designer
|
|
|
Product Designer
|
|
I loved my time at Olark. And will rate my future jobs based on the bar that was set for me. The management team is amazing. It is a great place to work, where your teammates and bosses really care about you in and outside of work.
|
It is a smaller team so if you want a clear career path there isn't a ton of room for promotion.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
|
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
1.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
0.0
|
754375
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
Nov 30th, 2018 09:16AM
|
Jun 30th, 2021 11:41AM
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
private:olark
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=754375
|
Jan 17th, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
One of the best remote teams + super inclusive
|
|
Teammates are inclusive, and for a tech company of this size, there is relatively little sexism on the team. I've never worked in a place where 4 of 6 directors are female, and as a younger woman, that's cool to see.
Also really good benefits - The remote flexibility is great, also things like 3 month parental leave, big professional development budgets, annual retreat & unlimited vacations, internal promotions...Seems like there's opportunities to develop new skills or join other teams too ( member of the Triage team recently started training as a backend engineer and a CS member joined Product).
|
There's a lot of pressure to give feedback, probably more than in an in-person company. Everyone gets 360s evals twice a year, and there's a survey each quarter about what kinds of OKRs we want to try, and team retros too. It's an adjustment and I think it would be hard if you aren't comfortable with giving/receiving feedback on a regular basis.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
0.0
|
NO_OPINION
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
0.0
|
754375
|
Open
|
Bring back #speakbox!
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Aug 17th, 2018 09:41AM
|
Jun 30th, 2021 11:41AM
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
private:olark
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=754375
|
Jan 17th, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
Mixed bag
|
|
Everyone is friendly, company takes remote first very seriously, they have a real product and real customers. Pays decently for remote engineering roles.
|
Completely, utterly, navel-gazing, self absorbed management. They spend all of their time thinking about reorganizations, reinventing work and patting themselves on the back for being so empathetic. Product and market are totally ignored. Hurry up and wait culture. Insane technical debt that will never be addressed.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
DISAPPROVE
|
9.0
|
3.0
|
5.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
4.0
|
1.0
|
0.0
|
754375
|
Open
|
Stop congratulating yourself. Focus on the product and market and getting stuff done. Stop reorganizing and reinventing stupid culture stuff.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
|
No
|
No
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Aug 17th, 2018 09:41AM
|
Jun 30th, 2021 11:41AM
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
private:olark
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=754375
|
Jan 11th, 2018 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
Olark - NOT RECOMMENDED
|
|
I wish I had something to add here, but I'm lost for words.
|
I was underpaid by industry standards and the work culture felt high schoolish. The upper management seems to think there is something very special about them. It's just another piece of chat software like a 100 others out there. Nothing unique here. You're better off working at another startup that's actually doing something exciting and worthwhile.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
DISAPPROVE
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
0.0
|
754375
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Aug 17th, 2018 09:41AM
|
Jun 30th, 2021 11:41AM
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
private:olark
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=754375
|
Jan 17th, 2017 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Olark
|
Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
|
|
|
"One of the best remote teams + super inclusive"
|
I have been working at Olark full-time
|
Teammates are inclusive, and for a tech company of this size, there is relatively little sexism on the team. I've never worked in a place where 4 of 6 directors are female, and as a younger woman, that's cool to see.Also really good benefits - The remote flexibility is great, also things like 3 month parental leave, big professional development budgets, annual retreat & unlimited vacations, internal promotions...Seems like there's opportunities to develop new skills or join other teams too ( member of the Triage team recently started training as a backend engineer and a CS member joined Product).
|
There's a lot of pressure to give feedback, probably more than in an in-person company. Everyone gets 360s evals twice a year, and there's a survey each quarter about what kinds of OKRs we want to try, and team retros too. It's an adjustment and I think it would be hard if you aren't comfortable with giving/receiving feedback on a regular basis.
|
1.0
|
Recommends
|
1.0
|
Positive Outlook
|
0.0
|
No opinion of CEO
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
754375
|
Open
|
|
|
|
|
No
|
No
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 5th, 2019 09:08AM
|
Apr 5th, 2019 09:08AM
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
private:olark
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=754375
|
Apr 29th, 2016 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
This place is amazing
|
|
This is, by far, the most friendly and empathetic work environment I've been a part of.
It's also remote-friendly and is actually successful at being remote. I had jobs in the past that claimed to be remote-friendly but it felt like I was on an island. Olark is very different. We use a lot of communication tools to stay connected, there are weekly team meetings that the entire company attends, and there are frequent check ins to ensure we're on track, happy and healthy.
There is a strong, sincere focus on well-being. Olark lets you live your life.
There is also a strong culture of customer support. We want our customers to love working with us, and we truly aim to focus on their best interests and feedback to make business decisions.
I've worked at some great companies, but Olark ranks at the top. They are doing it right.
|
If you aren't used to working remote, check out the book "Remote." It's a great, fast read and can help with the transition. I listed this under "con" but it's really a pro. It's just an adjustment. Once you've made it and it's working for you/your life, you won't want to go back to in-house work.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
0.0
|
754375
|
Open
|
Balance transparent leadership with thoughtful execution for what's going to push the company to the next level.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Aug 17th, 2018 09:41AM
|
Jun 30th, 2021 11:41AM
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
private:olark
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=754375
|
Jun 4th, 2015 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
Amazing
|
|
Olark is a wonderful company to work for. I feel so lucky to belong to a company that feels like a real team, full of people who are truly psyched to make Olark customers happy and continually strive to improve our service. The founders are actively involved in all facets of the company and no one is 'too little' for regular 1 to 1 meetings with them. Work/life balance is taken very seriously here and you'll never be given any trouble for taking a personal day.
We're a distributed team, so there are people working from all over the world along with two offices in San Francisco and Ann Arbor. Weekly team syncs keep us connected and the beginning of every meeting is dedicated to praising teammates for their contributions over the past week. Annual retreats ensure everyone is able to get together in person and have fun as well as collaborate.
Every Olarker is involved in customer support regardless of their job title, which keeps the customer and their needs front and center. The whole team is friendly and helpful. I've never felt intimidated about reaching out when necessary, and if I make a mistake I'm encouraged, not reprimanded. Olark is the complete opposite of soulless corporate nightmares I've been a part of in the past.
|
Personally I love that there's a ton of freedom at Olark, but I can see how that might be a negative to some. The founders aren't big on hierarchy and it's very rare that you'll have someone telling you exactly what to do and how to do it, so if that's something you need Olark probably isn't right for you. Everyone is trusted to do their job to the best of their ability and ask for help if necessary.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
0.0
|
754375
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Aug 17th, 2018 09:41AM
|
Jun 30th, 2021 11:41AM
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
private:olark
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=754375
|
Dec 28th, 2013 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Olark
|
|
|
|
Couldn't hope for a better job
|
|
The CEO, Ben Congleton, is a huge fan of the Zappos-style Delivering Happiness movement. I've never met someone so personally dedicated to the concept of keeping employees happy to make happy customers.
One thing that has really stood out is how much autonomy we all have. Olark really lets you push forward your own ideas because everyone trusts each other to have the company's best interests at heart, which has never failed to be true. And you can rely on your coworkers to have your back when you're taking a risk.
The team is great. Olark manages to attract talented people who are a lot of fun to work with. I never felt as cared for by my coworkers as I have at Olark.
A big advantage for me is that Olark is a virtual company, that is you can work from anywhere, and you get to choose your own hours. That flexibility has let me manage my own life like no other company has. A lot of coworkers really take advantage by travelling and working wherever they want. The CEO himself always seems to be somewhere different visiting family or friends.
I mean, talk about work/life balance. If I could rate the company 10 stars I would.
You'd think with so much flexibility nothing would get done, but the company is doubling every year on revenue. Olark really does know what it is doing. I think because we aren't wasting time and energy figuring out what's worth doing, we have the luxury of not killing ourselves working. How many tech companies can you say are like that?
tl;r We are crushing it so hard that we are living our lives awesomely.
|
I guess if I had to say a con, working virtually can be difficult if you're not ready for it. Olark lets you fly to hang out with coworkers when you want to or need to, and we have a great Skype and HipChat culture, but the rest is up to you.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
|
|
11.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
0.0
|
754375
|
Open
|
Keep at it. You're doing great!
Come to think of it, it would be fun to start teaching other younger companies how we work.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Aug 17th, 2018 09:41AM
|
Jun 30th, 2021 11:41AM
|
Olark
|
|
|