Pros
The people
Canvas8 is by far the most enjoyable place I've ever worked. You're surrounded by smart, kind, interesting, and supportive people, and a management team that genuinely invest time and effort into your happiness and career development.
Especially during lockdown, when emotions have been high, the CEO and management in general have been incredibly supportive and transparent, keeping everyone regularly updated on furlough policies, office opening timelines, and business prospects as a whole, reassuring employees and putting our wellbeing first. I've heard a few horror stories about other companies forcing staff to take pay cuts and generally letting employee wellbeing slip during lockdown. Thankfully, this has not been the case at Canvas8. We have weekly mindfulness sessions to keep us sane while WFH, and check-ins with managers to make sure we're doing ok, both personally and professionally.
The work
It's pretty amazing to work at a place where you literally learn something new every day. If you're interested in psychology, anthropology, or even just people watching and understanding why people do what they do, Canvas8 is a great place to work. I constantly feel intellectually stimulated and challenged, my brain literally working at full capacity, and it's pretty much impossible to be bored.
The culture
Monday morning breakfasts, an office dog named Oscar, regular pizza presentations, summer Friday hours, Friday evening drinks... It's really nice to work somewhere that recognises happy people make happy workers. Canvas8 has made a real effort to create a warm and welcoming culture where everyone feels comfortable and empowered. They're also seriously invested in embedding D&I into the DNA of the company, as opposed to just a box-ticking exercise, something that's important to a lot of the staff. I'm excited to watch this part of Canvas8 progress and develop as they put more money and oomph into it.
Cons
It's definitely fast paced, and you have to manage your time wisely in order to keep on top of the workload. In a way, this atmosphere has been a pro for me personally, forcing me to take more control over my schedule and making me a much more productive person. Sometimes though, there's an unrealistic expectation of how long a task will take, which means I can end up working a couple hours overtime.
Also, I came into the job without any experience in behavioural insights, so getting to grips with the industry felt like a pretty big learning curve. It would be great if there was more tailored support from the beginning / ongoing training for newbies in the field (I believe this is something that is currently being worked on, so that's great).
