Hello! The four companies that I would like to work for are Four Kitchens, Moove It, Thoughtbot, and The BHW Group. These are web development companies.
Four Kitchens
Address: (no physical address; each person works from home)
Homepage: fourkitchens.com
Phone: 833.932.2433
Contact: Caroline Balter (caroline@fourkitchens.com)
*Four Kitchens address and phone number were not listed on their site. I emailed Caroline Balter, Four Kitchen’s Office Manager, who let me know that each employee works from home. Her email signature contained their phone number.
General Information
Four Kitchens, founded in 2006, currently has 27 employees who work from their homes. It is based in Austin, TX but its employees live all over Texas. It incorporates Drupal, WordPress, Gatsby and JavaScript into websites and offers web development and design services. They have created content for NBC, Stanford University, Yale University, and The World Bank (Four Kitchens, 2021).
Why I’m Interested
I am interested in Four Kitchens because it is a small company whose core values align with my own. One of the core values listed on their site talks about being honest with one another. I really like that. I am currently working at a job where people tend to put on smiles and ignore the things that aren’t going so well, and honesty would be a nice change. Additionally, Four Kitchens employees give back to their community through volunteer work. Another major draw of this company is that it’s based in my hometown so there’s only a small chance of relocation. I have read some of their customer reviews and am impressed with the dedication to projects this company has. Four Kitchens recently won four W3 awards for their excellence in web development which tells me that they are innovative and up for learning new things. Learning more about this company has strengthened my interest in it. I really like the idea of working from home and was impressed with how quickly Ms. Balter got back to me with the information I requested. Each person in the company has a short “About Me” section that lists their strengths and interests. I read through these and I like what everyone is about. I would be excited to be a part of their team.
Questions to Help Me Succeed

1. Because you’re based out of your home, how do members of your team communicate with one another?
2. I am relatively new to programming. Will I have someone that I can shadow and learn from? How does that process work, being virtual only?
3. If I am hired as a junior developer, is there opportunity for growth in your company?
4. If I am unfamiliar with a particular coding language that you use, are there opportunities for me to learn that language? What does that look like?
5. How do you communicate with clients since you work from home? Are there in-person meetings or is it all done virtually?

 
Moove It
Address: 701 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701
Homepage: moove-it.com
Phone: 512.949.8991
Contact: jobs@moove-it.com
*I was unable to find information on a person to contact through Moove It’s website. I sent a message to the team through the link above but was unable to connect with anyone. I also called the number listed above and left a message but have not heard back. Austin is currently experiencing extreme weather and rolling blackouts so this may be why I was unable to reach someone.
General Information
Like Four Kitchens, Moove It was founded in 2006 and is based in Austin, TX. Their focus is on software development and mobile application development. They currently have 98 employees on staff. Their programmers use JavaScript, Ruby on Rails and C++ to create their applications. They have created content for Major League Baseball, Hulu, and Disney Streaming Services. Moove It has an NPS score of 82.02 (Moove It | Home, 2021).
Why I’m Interested
What initially attracted me to Moove It was their focus on mobile app development. I am a beginning developer and am interested in potentially getting into this field in my future career. As I sifted through their site, I ended up on the careers page and read the description for a Junior Developer. By the time I graduate from FHSU, I will fit the description perfectly. It’s exciting to see that I’m on the right track. Looking through the “About Us” section of their website to get a feel for the company and what they’re all about, I have to say I’m not as impressed as I thought I’d be. Their “What Makes Us Different” section is very surface level and does not tell me anything about the company or who its employees are. Even so, the “Our Work” page blew me away. The kinds of projects that they work on and successfully complete are very impressive and I would get to learn so much if I had the opportunity to work with people who are capable of such awesome designs. This company seems like it tackles much bigger projects than Four Kitchens. Overall, I am still interested in Moove It. It seems like a big company, which is a little intimidating. More than that though, it is exciting to think about how I can be a part of a group with so many fancy projects to work on.
Questions to Help Me Succeed

1. Your website says that you believe in personal development. What kind of opportunities to learn would I have if I worked here? I would like to learn more about Ruby on Rails.
2. It seems like you have a lot of experienced employees here. Are there people at Moove It like me, who are just starting out in the web development world?
3. There are a lot of employees at Moove It. How do you create an environment of collaboration? Do you provide ways for coworkers to get to know each other so that they can successfully work together?

 
Thoughtbot
Address: 1601 W 6th Street, Austin, TX 78703
Homepage: thoughtbot.com
Phone: 1.877.976.2687
Contact: https://thoughtbot.com/austin
*I was unable to find information on a person to contact through Thoughtbot’s website. I sent a message to the team through the link above but was unable to connect with anyone. Austin is currently experiencing extreme weather and rolling blackouts so this may be why I was unable to reach someone.
General Information
Thoughtbot was founded in 2003 and is a Boston-based web development company with offices in Austin, New York, San Francisco, Raleigh, Washington D.C., and London. Its Austin clients include Fetch MD, Houseparty, Planned Parenthood, and Merck (Creative studios building web and mobile products – thoughtbot, 2021). Thoughtbot’s Austin office opened in 2014 and serves clients in the central Texas area. Their specialties include Ruby on Rails, React, Elixir & Phoenix, Python & Django, and Elm. Its US employees receive 11 paid holidays per year and can choose to work on those holidays in exchange for another day off. 20% of their time is spent on continuous improvement so that they stay up to date on the latest technologies. Employees work 40 hours/week, receive 5 weeks off for vacation each year, and receive 6 weeks of paid leave as a new parent, with the ability to take off 6 months (Creative studios building web and mobile products – thoughtbot, 2021). According to their available positions, it seems that Thoughtbot is a company where employees may be working remotely for the time being. Although they currently have no openings, there is an apprenticeship position that is a paid, full-time position with benefits. This typically lasts for three months and after the apprenticeship ends, the apprentice is usually promoted to developer or designer.
Why I’m Interested
I am interested in working for Thoughtbot because of their apprenticeship program. As someone who hopes to be a web developer or designer, this program is exactly what I am looking for. In my searches for junior developer positions, I have not come across many jobs that pay well or provide benefits to the interns or apprentices. It makes me feel encouraged to know that if I were hired here and quit my current job, I would still be able to receive health benefits and a paycheck. It was also really encouraging to hear that most apprentices are hired by Thoughtbot after the apprenticeship is over. I also really appreciated that they dedicated an entire page of their website to information on this program. It makes me feel like they value the newbies and want us to succeed. On this page, Thoughtbot provides a GitHub link to help apprentices start out. I will continue to check for apprenticeship openings on their site: https://thoughtbot.com/jobs.
Questions to Help Me Succeed

1. What percentage of your apprentices are hired at Thoughtbot after their apprenticeship is over?
2. What does a typical day look like for an apprentice?
3. If I am working on a breakable toy, will I be able to present it to/receive feedback from my mentor?
4. Does the mentor program continue if I am hired at the end of the three months?
5. Does your company do any pro bono/volunteer work?

 
The BHW Group
Address: 6011 W. Courtyard Dr., Suite 410, Austin, TX 78730
Homepage: thebhwgroup.com
Phone: 512.220.0035
Contact: https://thebhwgroup.com/contact
*I was unable to find information on a person to contact through The BHW Group’s website. I sent a message to the team through the link above but was unable to connect with anyone. Austin is currently experiencing extreme weather and rolling blackouts so this may be why I was unable to reach someone.
General Information
Founded in 2005, The BHW Group is a small company of 18 people. Their focus is on mobile application development and web development and design. They have created content for Chick-Fil-A and The University of Texas. With over 400 projects, they have served 83 customers in 23 industries (The BHW Group and The BHW Group, 2021). They were named as one of the best places to work by the Austin Business Journal from 2016-2020.
Why I’m Interested
Being a small company does not stop this group from getting the job done. With over 400 projects and some big clients, I am interested to learn more about how they successfully complete projects. According to a former intern, The BHW Group offers flexible hours and a relaxed work environment (The BHW Group and The BHW Group, 2021). Lunch and snacks are free and provided to all employees. This reminds me of the web development companies that have the big kitchens, always stocked with food, that you see in TV shows. The BHW Group office has “Cozy Corners” with pillows and blankets, where employees can go to do their work. When I’m ready, all I have to do is send an email to careers@thebhwgroup.com to see if they have any interning openings for me. The biggest draw of this company is how much the employees get along and seem to like each other. It would be so cool to work in that kind of environment.
Questions to Help Me Succeed

1. As one of the best places to work, according to the Austin Business Journal, what do you think is the best part about working for The BHW Group?
2. It seems like you all are a group of friends who work well together. What kinds of things do you do to foster and build relationships within the company?
3. What percentage of your interns are hired as full-time employees after their apprenticeship is over?
4. What does a typical project look like from start to finish?

 
References
Four Kitchens. 2021. Four Kitchens. [online] Available at: <https://www.fourkitchens.com/> [Accessed 15 February 2021].
Moove It. 2021. Moove It | Home. [online] Available at: <https://moove-it.com> [Accessed 15 February 2021].
Thoughtbot.com. 2021. Creative studios building web and mobile products – thoughtbot. [online] Available at: <https://thoughtbot.com/> [Accessed 15 February 2021].
The BHW Group, I. and The BHW Group, I., 2021. Mobile App Development Austin, TX | Turnkey Solutions | BHW. [online] The BHW Group. Available at: <https://thebhwgroup.com/> [Accessed 15 February 2021].
W3 Awards. 2021. About w3 – W3 Awards. [online] Available at: <https://www.w3award.com/awards/about/> [Accessed 15 February 2021].