Why Kainos is one of the best companies to work for ... in my humble opinion.

Unless you have been living under a rock recently you have no doubt heard the impressive news that Kainos has been announced as one of the Sunday Times Best Companies to work for 2013 which is no mean feat!

So rather than bore people with the reasons why Kainos has warranted this placing according to the surveys and their categories, I will give a bit of background on me and why I feel this was justified. Prior to working for Kainos I worked in a fairly regimental sales and distribution company, so moving into the IT industry proved to be a culture shock for me but in the best possible way. From my point of view there are many small things which contribute to Kainos being a good company to work for. Individually they may not seem like much but collectively they really make a difference trust me!

First up is the company's attitude towards flexible working. This is something that can be taken for granted within the IT industry, but as a newbie I found it great that Kainos was so flexible with people's working arrangements. As long as you complete your core hours each day there are several options available to you including flexible working times, option of working from home and flexibility regarding time out to attend any appointments.

Another valuable benefit is pensions, now that I am getting slightly older and more mature (cough cough), I welcomed Kainos's contributory pension scheme as well as access to a financial advisor to provide advice on a one to one basis or who can be contacted at any time by telephone or email. Now if I could just curb the unnecessary shopping trips I can perhaps take advantage of these!

I have also been very impressed with the company's culture regarding their teamwork. Having joined a mere year ago I have been struck by the sense of camaraderie among staff, for example, when someone's (seemingly inimitable) mug goes missing from the kitchen everyone in the company comes together to try and find it which includes sending pictures of said mug (sometimes broken) and helpful emails of where it was last spotted! In addition there are numerous social activities (whether they are company-wide, team specific is irrelevant) which all help build on the employee's sense of belonging and I am aware of how much of a clich? what I have just said is, but it IS true.

I know that I am being somewhat flippant with the points highlighted above but I hope they give an insight as to why I am delighted that Kainos has been recognised for all that it does for its staff. I won't harp on about all the good points of working for Kainos any more (which by the way also include its close proximity to Boojum and the numerous coffee shops!), but if you have a minute, take a look at the following video which gives a good idea of what it's like to work at Kainos.