Where smart people come to have fun
Pros
I worked in the Seattle office where I worked as a UX designer. Immediately, I noticed a close-knit community that is welcoming and friendly. From what I saw, most people got along with each other very well. The type of work is really hard to predict as it is a consulting company. Your day-to-day tasks will vary depending on the industry of your client. That's also the reason why it makes the work fun because you don't know who you will be working for next, who you will be working with, and what kind of skills you might learn. The organizational structure is also very flat. We can ping anyone for a coffee chat and the culture welcomes it greatly.
Cons
There are two main turnoffs for this company. 1. The company is very homogenous and White male dominant. There is a serious lack of diversity in the office. They do have a lot of women in leadership as it is one of their diversity focus, but in terms of racial diversity, I only saw a handful of Black and Latinx employees. As someone who values diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice in the workplace, I think Avanade needs to focus on hiring and cultivating more talent of varying backgrounds. 2. Sometimes you won't get on a project for a long time. I've seen a few people leave because they were on the bench for extended periods of time. It can be even more exhausting to not get picked up from the bench than being on a rigorous project.
