Pros
Most colleagues were kind, helpful, and genuinely tried to support each other. Salary was fair and always paid on time. You get exposure to multiple projects and a wide tech stack, especially in your early years.
Kontras
Poor planning is the default: Deadlines are often decided without input from the devs who actually do the work. Scope changes last minute, and teams scramble to deliver under unclear conditions. It’s stressful, and worse — it’s normalized. Micromanagement from weak leads: Some team leads lack the experience or temperament to manage people. They micromanage, ignore feedback, or push their own priorities without context. It felt like I was constantly justifying my work to someone who didn’t understand it. HR can only do so much: While HR was kind and communicative, deeper issues (like toxic team leadership or favoritism) are there. Reporting something doesn’t seem to trigger improvement — just polite acknowledgement. Career development is vague at best: I never got a clear idea of what growth here looked like. Promotions seemed inconsistent. Some less competent people moved up, while others with strong output stayed frozen. I stopped asking. Emotional toll creeps up: By the time I left, I wasn’t angry — just exhausted. I stopped caring about the work because no one seemed to care about doing things the right way. That quiet erosion of motivation is what finally pushed me out.