The one about my experience at SNGULAR
It has been a full year since I joined SNGULAR. In this post, I want to talk about my experience with them so far.
As I mentioned when I landed this job, working for a consulting firm was not in my plans when I started looking for a new job at the beginning of 2024.
For most of my professional career, I have worked in product companies. And that is not a coincidence. I really love the deep ownership and the opportunity to build and nurture a single product over the long term.
However, after a few months in which things did not go as I expected, I had to lower my expectations. That included having to consider the possibility of working for a consulting firm.
In fact, I applied for the offer that SNGULAR published on LinkedIn, where they were looking for a backend developer specializing in Ruby to work exclusively with a client in the fintech industry, fully remote.
Selection process
The next day I received a phone call from a person from human resources (HR). We talked for a few minutes to see if there could be a fit on both sides and finally scheduled a video call for a few days later.
During that interview, the HR person shared a presentation where they told me in great detail what the company is like and how things work, what was expected of me, and how I would work with the client. They did not reveal who the client was, though.
Then we moved on to the most common part of any interview, where we went into more detail about what we had already discussed briefly on the phone, especially my work experience and my professional and financial expectations. We also spoke in English for a while to test my level.
In the next step, I appreciated that the technical interview felt more like a friendly conversation than a test, which helped ease my nerves and allowed for a more natural chat about my skills. This step was lead by another SNGULAR developer who works for the same client where I would work and who also has a manager role for the rest of the developers working for this client.
He finally told me who the client was, how things work with them, and asked me about my experience with this or that technology. The usual.
There was a third step that they considered unnecessary, which was an interview with the head of SNGULAR and liaison with the client.
A few days later I received a call from HR people and they confirmed that they wanted to hire me if I was interested, but they wanted to wait and see how the interview with the client went.
I had that interview with the client a few days later. It was very similar to the technical interview I had had with the people from SNGULAR previously. It was mainly a conversation in English with the engineering manager and product manager of the team I would be part of if I ended up joining them.
They told me how the American fintech works, they asked me questions about my previous experience and how I had worked on the different previous projects, from a quite technical point of view.
SNGULAR told me afterwards that I would soon hear back about the client's feedback and that, if all went well, they would make me a formal offer. That offer arrived two days later.
The entire process was very straightforward and pleasant, and I felt very comfortable throughout. I am especially grateful that if any of the steps took longer than expected, HR people always kept me informed.
Onboarding
Before my first day at SNGULAR, I received some things at home: a laptop (which you can choose between Windows or macOS), a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, a backpack, etc.
The first day begins with a meeting with the HR people to welcome you. They share a new presentation where they tell you where to find everything you will need and what to do in case you need help.
Of course, you have to sign the employment contract and configure the laptop following the instructions you receive by email.
Normally, after a couple of weeks of onboarding, you start working with the client. In my case, I already had a vacation scheduled, so my start with the client was delayed until I was back. In the meantime, I started a Ruby training to some colleagues who were not assigned to a project at that time.
Relationship with the company
On a daily basis, I do not have any type of contact with anyone from SNGULAR, except for a teammate.
Weekly we have optional half-hour meetings where all the SNGULAR colleagues who work in the American fintech get together with the company's liaison with the client to share news from either side.
I also have a 1-to-1 once a month with the manager of the SNGULAR developers.
At the end of the year you have your own performance review and that of your managers.
During this time, I have had a meeting with the HR people when I completed 3 months in the company and another one when I celebrated the first year to see how things were going for me and to know how integrated I felt in the company. In both cases the answer was the same. As I work full-time with the client, my relationship with SNGULAR is mostly reduced to receiving my paycheck at the end of the month.
As a curiosity, they also send us a weekly survey to find out how our week has gone.
The company has an office in Madrid, which is quite far from home, more than 1 hour by metro or bus each way. So it is not an option for me to go there regularly.
On the other hand, everyone I have spoken to when I have requested help of any kind has always been very kind, from HR to IT, for example.
Every year, the company celebrates a Christmas and summer party in various parts of Spain and the rest of the world. Those people who do not live in a city where the party is held have the option of going to the party closest to their city and requesting a travel and accommodation allowance of up to €200.
In addition, this month we celebrated the company's 10th anniversary party in Madrid, which was attended by more than 600 people from all over the world. It was a great opportunity to meet most of my colleagues in person.
Advantages
I work full-time for the same client.
In case of layoffs at the client, you do not lose your job directly, but are reassigned to another project.
- If things do not work out in the assigned project on your part either, you can be reassigned to another project as well.
You have an annual training budget of €500, which can be spent on courses, books, or tickets for technology events; and an annual well-being budget of €200, which can be spent on gym memberships or psychology sessions, to give a few examples.
Although it is true that there is not much flexibility to spend it. For example, you cannot use it to buy a standing desk.
On the other hand, if the company considers that a course could be interesting for your work, they pay the corresponding license without deducting it from your annual budget. For instance, some of us got a license for the Epic React course by Kent C. Dodds.
We have certain tax advantages for contracting a private health insurance policy. There are other benefits too that I do not enjoy, such as meal or transportation vouchers, because I do not go to the client's offices on a daily basis.
We have free access to AI tools, such as the Gemini pro model integrated into many of the company's tools.
We have the possibility of attending 1-hour English classes once a week, but outside of working hours.
Disadvantages
In my experience, you earn significantly less than in product development companies, such as start-ups or scale-ups.
Salary reviews are only conducted once a year, in February. If you have not been working at the company for at least 9 months at that time, usually you have to wait another year for a salary review.
As I was told, in very exceptional cases of excellent performance you can opt for a salary review sooner.
In my case, my manager promised me a salary review next year and that they would also take into account that I did not have one this year.
A lot of bureaucracy for everything, which can sometimes mean a simple request takes a few extra steps and days to approve, especially when it comes to an expense related to the money you are assigned annually for training or for well-being.
I have to report the hours I work twice: once in SNGULAR, where it is simpler because everything is charged to the same client, and another time at the client, where I have to specify the time dedicated to the different team initiatives.
By working full-time with the client, the feeling of belonging to the company is practically non-existing.
Conclusion
Probably, many of the advantages and disadvantages mentioned above, if not all, are inherent to most consulting firms.
Taking everything into account, I think my experience so far is positive, although there are things that I would undoubtedly change.
Ultimately, my experience shows that the line between consultancy and product company can sometimes be blurry. I would say the most important question is the nature of your specific assignment and your day-to-day team.
Here I just wanted to talk honestly about what my experience with SNGULAR has been so far instead of just leaving a message on Glassdoor.
Looking forward to my second year in the company.
Thank you for reading and see you in the next one!
