Pros
1) As usual, I have to say the people :) This is probably one of the nicest, most genuine group of people I've had the pleasure of working with. Despite most of us having our headphones on while working, it's really nice to be in a politics free environment with people who are all here to learn from one another and advance their craft. The talent here is insanely good, and I always feel like I'm continuously improving.
2) You get to work on a wide variety of different projects and art styles for some of the biggest game publishers/developers in the industry, which means no more working on that one same game for years at a time! New projects are always coming in, making things interesting and exciting for all of us (even if you're not assigned).
3) There is zero tolerance for any sort of crunch culture within the company, which means you do a normal days work and then leave on time, every single day. I can't tell you how refreshing this, and how much of a positive impact it has on your well-being and ability to enjoy life - something Atomhawk places a huge importance on. How you work is up to you (we are afforded a lot of flexibility in our day to day which is really nice), and we also get 21 days of paid vacation to enjoy outside of work :D
4) In general, the leadership team seem to genuinely care about us, and I see them working hard to make sure people are happy, healthy, and taken care of. I've had a few problems (work related and personal) during my time working here, and I've always been able to talk openly and honestly about things with my manager who has been a great help. Not only do they listen, but they have always followed through and helped take care of things for me, creating an environment where I can be myself without having to worry about stuff. I know others on the team really value this after coming from other studios where you feel like a number or a cog in a machine.
5) The studio provides free drinks and snacks on a weekly basis (soda's, waters, juices, granola bars, fruit, chips etc) which is nice when you need a break from drawing or get peckish in the afternoon and don't want to have to leave the office to go and buy something from somewhere (although I still see a lot of people hit up the Starbucks that's downstairs right outside our building)!
6) In addition to decent extended health benefits, we also have "cool benefits" that give you fun things to look forward to, such as free, bi-weekly life drawing classes and a monthly team movie outing that's based on a fun review of trailers and a final vote from everyone in our studio meetings! I haven't used it yet, but they also recently introduced a $300 annual gym membership reimbursement which is cool for those who want to go and do some focused exercise.
7) The office location is awesome - right on the waterfront of Canada Place and a 2min walk from the SkyTrain station. No need to drive or deal with the hassles of parking, and close to the fun hustle and bustle of downtown.
Cons
1) My salary was lower than my last job, but as it came with so many other major positives that my last job didn't offer, I was okay with it. Vancouver is an expensive city to live in, so this became a bit more of an issue, but management recently did a big overhaul that resulted in significant improvements to salary that have made people much happier!
2) The studio is new so has went through some typical growing pains (people coming and going, processes getting figured out etc), some of which definitely caused some frustrations on the team. Things seem to have finally settled into a good groove now though, and I'm excited for the future of this team and studio :)
