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Hack Reactor

Acquired by Galvanize

Is this your company?

Was once a great place to work, sadly that's no longer true - Anonymous employee Hack Reactor Employee Review

2.0
4 Nov 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Hack Reactor has/had (there's been a huge exodus of staff recently) some of the best people that I've ever worked with. They assembled an incredibly impressive group of people that were smart but also nice and knew how to work on a team. The students are also great. Hack Reactor does a great job of churning out software engineers that aren't douchebags.

Cons

I loved working for Hack Reactor until the founders came back and took over running the place. They had a super strong leadership team of smart, compassionate, hard-working people that they displaced due to their need to control every element what was happening in the program. They hired these people to run Hack Reactor and then micro-managed them until they all left in disgust and frustration. The biggest problem Hack Reactor is facing right now is the egos of their founders. They are simply out of their depth in terms of running a company and constantly make mistakes, but because of their egos, they won't admit their mistakes and don't get help from seasoned professionals. Over the last 3 months, almost half of the staff has left because the situation there has become unbearable. It is heart-breaking to me that a place I loved so much has demonstrated that they really don't care about the people that come through their doors. Turns out their high-minded mission statement was just talk.

Explore other reviews about Hack Reactor

5.0
31 Dec 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Hack reactor is incredible at meeting the needs of the people working there. They are flexible and practice incredible boundaries. It is an environment that motivates an incredible work ethic.

Cons

The job (that I had) is temporary and part time. Teaching just doesn't pay as much as a more technical programming job would.

1
3.0
31 Oct 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are a number of great people who have worked here, not sure how many are left after a recent exodus of staff. The curriculum and student experience seem to really produce some great results, even if not as good as originally advertised. I think they've really made a big difference in a lot of student's lives and helped them to find good jobs they otherwise wouldn't have been able to get without the help of the program and dedicated staff members.

Cons

There is just a general feeling of chaos on a daily basis with constantly changing strategy, plans, and leadership. They moved from one small school to lots of schools/brands with all of the decision-making power in a parent company called Reactor Core but have apparently realized this was a mistake and are switching everything back under the Hack Reactor brand, including the acquired schools. There is a really gossipy Kool-aid culture where most people vent frequently about everyone and everything. Very few people seem to be really in a stable position where they don't feel a need to talk through their work issues on a daily basis instead of focusing on their job. Many employees seem to feel like the executive leadership only cares about money and profit for themselves, despite a large amount of talk about mission and vision. The compensation is really not competitive relative to other options in the Bay Area. They tend to recruit and burn through people who are willing to work on less salary because they care about the product and students.

9
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