Designer - Anonymous employee Wiklém Design Employee Review

It is always a challenge to write a review for small design firms with so many factors incomparable to the big-ass design houses. Personalities seem bigger and in-your face, every day. It may be co-workers, a supplier or the big boss. Workforce is small. Your contribution to the office may represent a tenth to a quarter or more of the total effort to get the work done. Over or under-performing is often relative to those around you. Resources are often less. Juggling what you have with what you need is the unique art of working in a small business. It is also important to remember the owner and senior staff are almost always designers first. Being a team-leader, a manager, a partner or the owner is often something they grew into or fell into through immediate need, love of design or wanting to grow a better place to thrive. The bottom line is you either embrace it, contribute and grow, or you reject it, become unproductive, unhappy and end up leaving - only to write bitter reviews of your hardships on platforms like this one. It is always curious to see the dark-cloud past co-workers years later doing the exact same job they were doing before or sporting a mile-long list of short-term gigs. That speaks volumes about them, not the workplace they left behind.

To appreciate Wiklem Design, it is a small design firm, grown from the owner’s design adventures out of the trunk of her car to be a successful full-service design firm of under 10 employees. Wiklem Design is a decent place to work, encourages broad design-styles and has an odd-collection of employees, who are all fine people to work with. If you are looking to hide in a team-mosh-pit on your laptop, pick the same 3 wall paints every day and play foosball in the staff lounge, Wiklem is definitely not a good match. But, if you are looking to put yourself out there, roll with the good, roll with the not-so-good and gain valuable experiences in all aspects of design, design-processes and the design business, Wiklem may be a perfect place for you to explore. Good Luck!

Design Work – A lot of opportunity to grow as a designer because you work on all aspects of a project from start to finish. The work is not overly demanding, and you have the support and wisdom from the owner and seniors every step of the process. Your opinions and ideas are valued and encouraged. Work Culture – Since it is a relatively small firm, every employee is a vital employee and equally contributes to the culture within the office. Projects are your first priority, but there are several opportunities to build relationships with the team through weekly staff meetings, social events, drinks, birthdays, etc. We are a work family! Employee Benefits – The team is compassionate towards your personal life and commitments when requesting time off. Bi-annual progress reviews. New benefits program as of 2022. Mileage and other office expenses are reimbursable.

None to share at the moment as the company is actively making significant efforts to recognize and improve on its weaknesses. Starting off at any company can be an adjustment at first but I have grown to love this place over time!