Pros
Should have read reviews before joining I was a Next Gen (part-time student program) for 2.5 months. I was an international student and joined the design department. Penning my review based on my experience. Pros - Good lunch - Good pay if you are a student
Cons
Cons - False advertising: They make it look like they are here to teach you. You are expected to adapt very quicky work-wise and culturally. Impossible if you are new to the country and the company. I already had some experience but just to be sure I asked before I joined if they require any level of skill for design. The boss said "no" and that only "willingness to learn" was enough. Some were open to teach but later the same boss switched and showed a different side of hers. She started looking for problems everywhere else.. even when I had classes and also if I had to meet a family member. I gave in my full hours but faced several micro-aggressions from her. Never had a problem with anyone else. - Cult-like behaviour: I always thought having the "Adyen Formula" was a bit of a red flag but I ignored it thinking every organization has some core values they follow. The formula gets a whole new meaning when your team is mostly white. It was extremely strange when I found out too. Everything is way too good to be true in the beginning. They behave like they are an extended family of sorts. You are expected to be more than professional... if you are shy or it takes time for you to open up.. they might take it as u being unwilling. Their conversations are extremely sanitised, unnatural, robotic even sometimes.. like as if there is a secret norm somewhere about what to agree and what to disagree.They stay extremely close knit, appreciating each other for every single mundane thing. It becomes very confusing when u are new. They do have cult-like leaders no matter how "non-hierarchical" they want to seem. When the leaders decide on something... everyone agrees.. no second opinion. They enjoy an eerie sense of power (they like to call it autonomy), they can do/say something horribly wrong in a second and people will behave like nothing happened. . They are extremely good with denial. - Inclusivity: There are a lot of non-white interns and it gets whiter towards the top of the ladder. I was the only person of colour in the group. They are extremely unaware of what they are saying or what they know/don't know about a person from another country. Quite openly, I heard stuff like "we like to be more inclusive, but they also have to be good". There was another person of colour in the conversation, we looked at each other and pretended like nothing happened. They are concerned about how they look so you will see the term "inclusive" everywhere. They are aware they have a problem and read reviews as well but they are too well paid to come out of their comfort zone. They are numb when it comes to social consciousness. They might even feel intimidated if they feel tested - Toxicity: I faced the standard "blame it on the intern" behavior. Again, very strange. Work was getting difficult as several designers were on vacation. My boss had a conversation with the team on limiting the number of people who can take holidays at a time. I gave my full hours and never had a complain about my work from ANYONE ELSE. The team was happy and the HR even asked if I wanted to join full time in the future. Unfortunately, my boss REALLY HATED ME for no good reason I could think of and I faced the most hostile behaviour from my boss. She found loopholes and made me completely defenseless..blamed me for not getting things done when her lovely employees were sipping cocktails on the beach! She kept everyone away from it so no one got to defend me but I am sure no one would have done anything anyways.