Michelle, Oxford, Engineering
Having an aptitude for science, but being too lazy to do subjects like biology or chemistry at A-level, I was guided by my school to follow a path in engineering - which suited me very well at the time since there were all sorts of financial pay-outs to encourage girls to get into it! So I started out studying Engineering at Oxford, but the more computing-based project that I'd done in my fourth year convinced me that a job in software was something that I'd enjoy more.
Ensoft wasn't completely unknown to me when I started looking for jobs. Two people that I'd known at college were employees - and their enthusiastic description of the company and their work-life stood out from the impression that everyone else gave of "just going to work every day". So I applied for a job (by just sending them a CV!) and was asked for interview almost straight away - an impressive turnaround of just a day or two between deciding to apply and getting a reply. Similarly, the interview just consisted of a quick test (no computing knowledge required) and a couple of informal interviews with the directors, with the email coming the next day to offer me the job (and invite me to the Christmas party :-).
At the time there were only a dozen people in the company and the contract with a giant customer was still in the process of being won - it was very much a trial period where Ensoft had to prove themselves.
Even with my lack of software experience, I was given pieces of the coding to do and asked to all design meetings - showing the real trust that is given to new starters right from the start.
The buzz of everyone pulling together to meet the deadline and being determined to do a good job was great - I was just as impressed as the customer was.
Starting off as a small company, the employees set the tone of the office atmosphere and the social life, as well as being involved in all company decisions. Our growth hasn't changed that - the employees are very much the company and everyone is very much a part of things. Everyone still knows everyone else - in many ways it's a bit like being at college, where people go out together at the end of the day, people arrange social events for anyone to attend and you can phone people up on a Saturday afternoon and see if they feel like playing frisbee in the park and going for a curry. I can't imagine there are many other companies where people's other halves are as much a part of the social life as the employees themselves!
I'd been looking to take some time out of work to devote to other interests and Ensoft was able to accommodate this by letting me work part-time for a couple of years - something which worked well as it meant I could spend lots of my time as I liked, but still have some money in to pay the bills.
I'd never been expecting to stay in any job for more than a few years - but after eight years, the only friends I know who are still in their first job are me and the two people at Ensoft I knew from college. With good, fun people to work with; enjoyable, challenging work; a flexible, open company; good pay and the odd trip to California, I've yet to find a reason to think about going elsewhere. (Well, other than the house prices in the area, perhaps...)