Pluspunten
Buffer hired me as a contract employee, which means I went through a 45-day bootcamp to determine if we were the right fit for one another. It turns out we weren't, and I was let go at the end of my bootcamp. I'm a big fan of Buffer as a product, having used it for years. Both browser-based and app-based, it's fast, competent and with few flaws. When something does go awry, the engineers and developers are quick to jump on it. Everyone at Buffer works remotely from wherever they feel happiest, which makes it easy to be productive and at ease. I enjoyed having video conferences with people in France, Hawaii and London on any given day. I felt much more connected to my co-workers than I did at any job in the past, since I interacted with them one-on-one daily, quality conversations with true interest in one another's lives. Buffer leans heavily into self-improvement, and all co-workers offer one another a ton of support on whatever your personal challenges are.
Minpunten
For me, the biggest downside of working at Buffer is the ambiguity. There's no management, and what this means is that the company's direction changes constantly. In the 45 days I was employed, the narrative changed from working fast-paced and making quick decisions to slowing down, not answering emails right away and taking time to reflect. By the end of my bootcamp, the company founders had shared that we were to speed up again for company agility. This inconsistency made the company feel fragile, and several one-on-one conversations I had with full-time co-workers reflected that this flip-flopping is frequent and to be expected. Buffer advises bootcampers to create a schedule for themselves in which they're successful, and everyone is to manage their own time. That means some people work six hours a day, and others work eight. I'm a morning person and set up an eight-hour workday for myself. Although my availability was outlined on my Google calendar for setting up meetings as well as shared in the company chat room, co-workers constantly set up last-minute meetings with me outside of my hours. This had me working 12-hour days nearly every day of my bootcamp. This is not the experience that Buffer 1, advises, or 2, admits to. I received much personal feedback during my bootcamp, and while I appreciated their investment in my whole self, it weighed heavily on my heart. I do have a therapist with whom I work on being open, vulnerable, not too hard of myself, etc., and it felt like too much to get feedback like this during the work day as well, especially during bootcamp, which feels perilous. (Though the team recommends pretending you're already on full-time, when you do act as though you're a full-timer and you weigh in on certain decisions, talk through processes and offer alternative methods, you're reminded that you aren't full-time. I was told twice that I'd stepped in somewhere that wasn't my place, yet they were quick to say that everywhere is everyone's place. Confusing.) Professionally, I received mostly positive feedback during bootcamp and was told to keep doing what I was doing, that I was on the exact right path and they were so pleased. Then, at the end of my bootcamp, they said that what I was doing wasn't a priority for the company right now. Buffer had every right to let me go without providing a reason. As a contract worker during bootcamp, I didn't have the same rights that the full-time workers did. They could have fired me because they didn't like my hair or voice, for all I know. I really haven't a clue, and they have declined to be forthcoming on the reason. They say that if they don't feel it's a 100% yes to hire a bootcamper, then it's a no, and that it isn't the right cultural fit. I truly don't know what to take from my time at Buffer and where to move professionally next, as they've declined to help educate. I'm grateful for the life experience, but as for my career, it wasted my time without helping me grow. As for my household, we are much worse off financially and in terms of health, which I'll explain below.