Q&A With NSTO Employees

Obviously, retail and fulfillment team members can't work from home, but the policy is more flexible for office staff, depending on position and type of work performed.

Depends on your position (some aren't eligible to WFH due to the type of role).

flexible work schedules

the coverage is good and the price is reasonable.

Yes. The company will cover paid volunteer time (but it has to be approved in advance and at a recognized non-profit or charity).

Easy going or positive. Either will help just about everything you do. There are a variety of people with very different skill sets trying to accomplish very different things, so being easy going lets you take it all in stride and just enjoy helping out wherever you can.

reviews used to happen annually. They just discussed starting to do them 2x/yr. Promotions are sometimes tied to that and at other times, tied to new roles opening or being filled. They do a lot of promotion from within existing staff members.

tuition assistance program or employee stock purchases.

Keep your ears open! There's always an opportunity to pitch in an idea, learn something new, or get to know other teams better. People have a lot of opportunities to work cross-functionally and it's really rewarding. It prevents the work from ever getting repetitive.

very casual, but still professional (depending on your role and location).

We usually have company-wide social events at least once per quarter and smaller, department/team social events once a month. Sometimes staff can also bring +1's for the quarterly events like baseball or soccer games (and of course the holiday party).

They are very pet-friendly in the offices, as long as the pets are well behaved (not disruptive) and they stay with their owners (no roaming around the offices). It's wonderful!

yes, they do a background check during the hiring process. I've never been drug tested, but it is mentioned in our employee handbook. I believe that's only if necessary or there is suspicion of an issue.

Good. It doesn't happen quickly, but it's nice to know that they care enough about finding a good fit to work closely alongside other teams that they don't rush hiring.

Have the applicable experience that the job posting is looking for and clearly explain in your cover letter how you can help.

They've definitely improved drastically since 2016. Now there's multiple comprehensive health plans offered, with dental and vision coverage. There are more PTO days and monthly wellness activities, quarterly social events and monthly team events. It gives employees a chance to relax and get to know each other outside of work and has really improved communication across offices.

A great learning experience for young designers.

HR does a good job of addressing items brought to their attention in a timely and thorough manner.