I worked as a developer for Briebug from October 2...

I worked as a developer for Briebug from October 2017 through January 2018. This a long overdue fulfillment of my promise to post a review!

There is so much for which I am grateful! I credit the owner Jesse with having an important role in starting my development career. He offered me a position after observing my work as an intern and then a contractor with another company. It was my first salaried development job and I so appreciate his belief in me.

Pros:

-The investment in your professional development is exceptional. You will get to work in cutting edge javascript technologies and receive all the resources you need to train, including conferences and online classes.

-The joy of getting to work on interesting projects with all kinds of clients is a thrill. I still treasure some of the relationships I made as a contractor to this day.

-Connection to the developer community. Briebug is a leader in web development in Denver, and is making big strides to be a leader in Angular nationally. They host regular meetups as well as keep a busy schedule of conference speaking engagements.

-Benefits are in my opinion generous and competitive with the area.

Cons:

- If you're working for a contracting company, you have to be aware that their priority is to make money off you. If contracts run low for a time and not enough revenue comes in, you're at risk of being let go, and unfortunately I saw this happen more than once (although it was a rare occurrence). This provides motivation to make yourself the best you can be for them, which is a good thing, but it's not the way I want to be motivated.

- Unfortunately, I received an unpleasant surprise when it came time to give my two-weeks notice of resignation. The CEO let me go on the spot. I understand that this is not an unheard of practice, but after a two-year relationship with the CEO, which I had thought was very positive and encouraging, I was not expecting to be treated like this. Unfortunately, this meant that I was out of work for two weeks, since my new company couldn't bring me on until the first of the next month. As the sole provider for my family, this was a significant loss for us. I had a chance to briefly discuss this with the CFO, and I appreciate his compassion as he looked me in the eyes and told me it was a difficult decision. Still, we regret that I gave them the courtesy of a two-week notice.

I hope my experience, both negative and positive, is helpful for you. If I could remove this last experience, I would give Briebug my unqualified recommendation. However I will always be grateful to the company for investing in me and giving me my start.