-11
eNPS Score
Q&A With Ancestry Employees
At Ancestry, we empower each other to develop and thrive in a supportive environment by engaging employees of all backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. We want our employees to reach their full potential while discovering a greater sense of identity, relatedness, and their place in the world.
How employees describe working at Ancestry
actually giving people results, 6 months and 4 tests with no results
great. i am happy with it
Tools work, could be better, overall satisfied
Follow up with upset customers
Reliability and transparency. The system frequently exhibits partial failures where some of the functionality doesn't work. The company doesnt communicate about technical issues, root causes, remediation and plans.
What it's like to work at Ancestry
- Les employés de Ancestry travaillent généralement 8.7 heures par jour
- Les employés de chez Ancestry signalent que le rythme de travail est modéré
- Au cours d’une journée type, les employés de Ancestry have 1 réunion
- 82% des employés de chez Ancestry sont impatients d’interagir avec leur équipe tous les jours
- Les employés de Ancestry prennent le plus souvent illimité congés payés et de congés de maladie chaque année
- 100% des employés chez Ancestry déclarent qu’ils sont satisfaits de leur équilibre travail-vie personnelle
- Les employés de Ancestry reçoivent généralement des commentaires précieux sur la façon de s’améliorer au travail une fois par mois
- 67% of Ancestry employees call their work environment positif
Q&A With Ancestry Employees
IDX: 0 TOT: 34
How's the vacation policy at Ancestry?
It's unlimited. Never had any issues taking advantage of the policy either
It's NOT, NOT, NOT unlimited! It's "flexible".
Unlimited! Be respectful of your team & your work. Get done what you need and there are no issues with you taking the time off you need.
How many women are in your team? is it diverse enough?
Meilleure réponse des employés
There is one out of 12 developers. I would like it to be more diverse.
Gender diversity in Product & UX is good. It would always be better. Racial/Ethic diversity is low.
We have very few female directors, executives, and VPs. I don't believe there is much opportunity for female employees beyond management positions.
How secure do you feel at your job at Ancestry?
Meilleure réponse des employés
Insecure. Layoffs here hit even the best performers due to executive ineptitude
Not secure. Many layoffs in the past.
As secure as you can feel at any job in the tech industry
How's the work life balance at Ancestry?
Depends on the team. Most teams though are very happy to get you taken care of in all aspects of life so you can perform better while you are at work.
Similar to other tech companies.
So far it is pretty good. That could change with the new management team
How much diversity is there among employees at Ancestry?
Some
Pretty good and they are always working on making it more diverse
How's the morale at Ancestry?
Meilleure réponse des employés
It depends on the team, but some teams have low morale due to layoffs.
Pretty good. There have been lots of management changes over the last year, and everyone is just trying to get through them.
What's one thing you wish you'd known before joining Ancestry?
No notice needs to be given before laying people off.
Nothing, it is a great place to work and has consistently gotten better.
What unique perks and benefits does Ancestry provide?
No
In house gym and cafeteria. Lots of free food and drinks.
What's the office layout like at Ancestry?
"Pods, pods as far as the eye can see". I guess "open" is the official description
Partial open office
What's the office vibe like at Ancestry?
Meilleure réponse des employés
Right now, it’s very low. The culture change that has happened in the past 9 months have deeply impacted the company.
Stressful and anxious with all the recent management changes.
How do the current devs on the team act towards new developers that join?
Meilleure réponse des employés
We welcome them as long as they can contribute and are willing to learn
In my experience, peers on existing teams are actually quite excited to get new new devs "up to speed" on our technology stack, etc. Things rarely change at Ancestry (aside from frequent desk changes), so the vast majority of devs enjoy getting a new hire on their team - it is refreshing to get a new personality.
How are layoffs handled in the Engineering department at Ancestry?
Meilleure réponse des employés
Poorly. There used to be a guy named Mark LeMonnier that was a VP of engineering at Ancestry that really fought for his people when these times came. Made the engineers feel very valued. He was recently removed from the company, and with him, the company lost all of its' integrity regarding these events. Many of the best engineers in the company have been removed through executive incompetence, and Nat in particular loves showing the board he can "do what's necessary" to cut costs. To put it simply, they don't handle it well, and it probably won't be handled well until leadership changes happen.
How hard is it to get promoted at Ancestry?
It can be very difficult, especially in the past few years. Lots of documentation on why you should be promoted, plus approvals up the management chain.
How flexible is your work schedule at Ancestry?
The schedule for the engineering teams I have been on are very flexible. I can't speak for teams in other areas of the org.
How do I do well in an interview at Ancestry?
Prepare
How long do the interviews usually take at Ancestry?
2 phone screens and onsite interview for 5-6 hours.
What was the most difficult question that was asked during your interview at Ancestry?
A machine learning question.
What should I wear for an interview at Ancestry?
Business casual is fine.
Who did you meet with during your interview? And how long did it take to hear back from Ancestry?
A few weeks
What questions do they ask during the interview process at Ancestry?
Coding and technical questions on statistics and machine learning.
How would you compare interviewing at Ancestry to other places you've interviewed?
Medium difficulty.
How's the leadership on the Engineering team at Ancestry?
Very confused and disjointed. I hope they figure things out soon.
How challenged are you at Ancestry?
I am challenged by my work every day. There are always opportunities to stretch and improve your skills. I work with very smart and talented individuals which pushes me to keep my skills sharp and current.
How's the work pace at Ancestry?
It is speeding up
What are you most excited about working at Ancestry?
Meilleure réponse des employés
Building something that is meaningful for common consumers - simple Jacks and Jills. We don't create features for executives, we create them for passionate people who have regular lives.
Curious about what work's like at Ancestry?
Anonymously Ask Ancestry Employees Any Question
Should I work at Ancestry?
34% of Ancestry employees would encourage their friends to become coworkers, whereas 21% are neutral and 45% would not recommend working at Ancestry to their friends.
| 34% | Promoters |
|---|---|
| 21% | Passive |
| 45% | Detractors |
