Disorganized Onboarding and Lack of Managerial Oversight - Software Engineer II Kraken Employee Review

1.0
Apr 24, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A Lot to Learn Technically, But Severely Lacking in Support and Structure

Cons

• Lack of Onboarding: Despite being part of the backend team, I never received a proper onboarding into the codebase or architecture, which made ramping up extremely difficult. • Poor Managerial Support: I had three different managers during my time, none of whom conducted regular 1:1s or check-ins. This left me feeling directionless and unsupported throughout my probation. • Communication Gaps: Getting answers to questions was often slow — sometimes taking days. This significantly hindered productivity and learning. • High Expectations, Low Enablement: Although I contributed to 30+ PRs and actively engaged with the team, there was no clear guidance or recognition of effort, leading to a frustrating and disheartening experience. • Impact on Well-being: The lack of support, structure, and empathy — especially during a personally challenging time — negatively affected my mental health and confidence.

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Kraken Response
1y
Hi, Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. I’m really sorry to hear that your onboarding experience wasn't what you'd expected. We’re always working to improve the way we support new joiners and your feedback is incredibly valuable in helping us do that. If you’d feel comfortable, I’d really appreciate the chance to connect and learn more about your experience directly. Please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thanks again, Emma Beddoes People Operations & Capability Director

Explore other reviews about Kraken

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
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Pros

Amazing work environment and people

Cons

fast growing so sometimes dissorganized

5.0
Dec 12, 2025
Recommend
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Pros

Newhire here, extremely glad to have landed at Kraken. The company is genuinely driven by a desire to deliver the transition to a sustainable energy future. Does an amazing job of making employees genuinely empowered and accountable, in a blameless and humane setting, which gives people the authority to make themselves productive. Normally I'd consider that to be a Silicon Valley thing, but here at Kraken this has a bit of a British spin on it, being the company's history derives from the UK's Octopus Energy. The resulting mix slices through corporate politics with real talk and joviality. I just got out of one genuinely hilarious and inspirational optional all-hands which left others commenting "OMG It's my first week, does this happen every Friday???" In my department, clients (such as electrical utilities) love the way we're revolutionizing their businesses, including the way they treat their call center staff, humanizing them to become wide-ranging, informed and empowered problem solvers on behalf of their customers, instead of helpless automatons following scripts. Elsewhere, Kraken has tentacles in all kinds of sustainable tech, from sustainable generation, huge demand-flattening battery installations, domestic EV chargers, and smart meters. Business is booming, growth is spectacular, and huge markets still exist for the taking...

Cons

I'm a programmer. We have a big codebase. There is some tech debt. But show me a 2,000 person high growth company for which that isn't true. Everyone has a very sane attitude towards it. Not a biggie.

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