Avantages
Working at helloU is an incredibly challenging, yet rewarding experience. I joined an ambitious and hard working team, a very small team at that, and so naturally it was steered very closely by the CEO. The demands are huge, there is nowhere to hide if you're hoping to ride on the coattails of your colleagues - and so you've got no choice but to put in your level best every single day. This is a satisfying experience I assure you. With such a hard working culture it is of course critical that the team can work together, and the CEO managed this exceptionally. I'm yet to work at a company where everyone enjoys each other's company to the degree that they play football at lunch, go to the pub after work and go on a 2 day jaunt to Europe at Christmas. Everyone talks about "work hard play hard" - which is so overused now it offends me to type it - but at helloU it is a reality. Perhaps the most valuable thing I got from my time at helloU was the advice and guidance from the CEO. Since leaving helloU I have dramatically changed my career, and that is not only due to the CEO putting me in contact with the right people over a year after I left, but also having given me some of the best career advice I've ever had. If you have the opportunity to work with him then it will be to your benefit.
Inconvénients
During my time it was a rigid working environment with little consideration for what people would generally expect from a modern and forward thinking company. This was justified in the minds of management as being a necessity for such a lean team/company - however this mindset is old fashioned and companies are quickly realising the benefits of being flexible and handing the reigns to the employees, as it increases loyalty and job satisfaction, resulting in more skilled workers staying longer and working harder. Low points were being overly disciplined for being 1 or 2 minutes late, not being able to go outside for a smoke, and management being inflexible on out-of-work issues like moving house, doctors appointments and such. Things may have changed subsequently as it certainly seemed they were on the verge of modernising.