One year later: What is it like to work at Revolut?

I get asked this question often, so let me give the most complete answer.

First, a bit of context. Before joining Revolut, I spent six years working at Apple and Amazon.

Both companies have been around for over 30 years with solid procedures and policies.

Revolut is more like a super startup: a lot has been done, but much more remains.

If I’m being honest, I hesitated before accepting my offer at Revolut.

I’ve heard a lot about it before and read concerning feedback on Glassdoor.

“Got fired for no reason!”

“No work-life balance!”

“Poor management!”

But all the people I spoke with during the recruitment process were lovely. How can they be so good at hiding things?

They told me about all the exciting projects they were working on and the ability I would have to think differently and take more ownership of my work, which both Apple and Amazon couldn’t give me due to their size.

The comp was exciting: a 30% base salary increase from what I was getting and a 45% increase if I added the average cash bonuses.

It was more than what the promotion I’ve been fighting for over a year at Amazon could get me. 

But like every human being, I was resisting change.

“I’ll have to go through a 6 months’ probation.” (standard in Spain)

“I’m going to have to prove my worth all over.”

“What if I don’t go along with my new manager?”

What was my other option?

Staying comfortable in my role, remaining undervalued, doing more and more for a promotion that is not worth all the work and eventually having to return to the office 3 days a week? (they started this “3 days back in the office” rule before I left)

Gross, let’s get the hell out of here!

My first few weeks at Revolut were more intense than at Apple and Amazon.

But I knew what I was in for; I wanted that. I was bored in my role at Amazon, always doing the same thing repeatedly. 

Here, in the second week, I was already conducting interviews for roles I needed to become more familiar with.

I also had to spend hours training and learning about the banking industry.

However, my manager and colleagues make the onboarding much more manageable.

Even if everyone is busy.

At Revolut, when you want to send a catch-up invite to someone, it’s not a 30-minute invite. It’s a 15-minute invite.

During the first weeks, I focused on learning, asking a LOOT of questions to everyone around me.

Eventually, I learned to find the answers myself.

I became more familiar with the ways of working, picked up the pace and started hiring people.

6 months later, probation review.

The targets were exceeded, and there was good feedback from stakeholders. Let’s tick the probation.

Now what?

Now, we get sh*t done.

 Last week was my first anniversary at Revolut.

I want to review 5 factors that matter the most to me in a job.

1)        Impact of my work

2)        Work/Life Balance

3)        Growing opportunities

4)        Management/Team cohesion

5)        Benefits/Pay

I.                             Impact of my work

It’s exciting to see the impact of the work you do.

At Amazon, I was hiring around 20-30 people per quarter, adding to the total headcount of 1.4 million employees.

Here at Revolut, I hire around 6 people per quarter for 10k employees.

It’s easier to see and understand the value of your work.

I’ve hired senior leaders who play a crucial role in the UK banking license, people who are essential in the growth of our EU bank, and people who have since become hiring managers for whom I now recruit.

I’ve also had a chance to participate in multiple events here in Madrid and Barcelona. I gave my first in-person presentation in front of 150 people.

II.                          Work/Life Balance

The first week when I started, I spoke with my manager about working hours. She explained that they were flexible, and I informed her that I would begin to work at 10 a.m. as I go to the gym in the morning: no issue whatsoever.

My role is fully remote, but I can also visit our Madrid offices if I want to.

It’s not my thing. I am more comfortable working at home, but having the option is good.

If you wonder about my work hours, I work around 40 hours per week, rarely more than that.

You can if you want to, but I chose to draw a line with my business on the side, and it has never impacted my work. In fact, I exceeded my Q2 targets.

I’m in charge of my schedule. 

III.                       Growing opportunities

This year, Revolut has focused heavily on career growth opportunities. A new performance framework impacts progressions and promotions internally. 

They launched a new learning platform that makes learning new skills more manageable, and now every employee can access LinkedIn learning.

It’s my favourite learning platform; so many real-life and relevant skills to learn there!

As teams grow fast, I see people moving into people management roles quickly, too.

IV.                      Management/Team cohesion

Picture this: You’re in high school and running late. On the way, you see your best classmate, who is late, too. The pressure kind of goes away, and you feel better about being late.

That’s how I feel with my manager and my colleagues.

Revolut is growing fast, so as a support organisation, you often feel like you’re behind.

Challenging circumstances help foster closer relationships.

We’re all in this together, and we know the rhythm is intense, making us empathise with one another. 

And we have an offsite with my team planned next month in Budapest.

Most of my team members are outside of Madrid, so meeting them in person will be amazing.

It’s a multicultural environment. 

V.                         Benefits/Pay 

The pay is excellent; Revolut has a review system in place when they ensure they remain competitive quite often.

We also have 2 promotion cycles per year and progressions (sub-seniority promotion) each quarter.

As for benefits, Revolut is constantly looking for new ones for employees.

You get insurance, your birthday off, a £400 card to buy home equipment to get set up, a Revolut metal subscription (with Tinder Gold, Nord VPN and more stuff included) and a card with 120€ per month for lunch. (and maybe other stuff that I’m forgetting)

So yes, I like it here.

I'm so glad I took the risk a year ago and chose to see for myself.

Knowing why you're here is the most important thing for succeeding at Revolut. I’m not talking about the salary to pay the bills; if that’s the source of your motivation, you'll feel burnout quite fast.

But what are you trying to achieve and learn?

I plan to stick with Revolut for a couple more years before leaving the corporate world to focus on my business full-time.

I still have a few things to learn about recruitment and leadership that Revolut can teach me.

Thank you for reading me.

Damien