Skillshare provides an online learning community for those creative souls who want to expand their knowledge. From illustration to freelancing, the online platform provides a class for millions of people every year. The inspiring courses help those people take the next step in their creative journey. Skillshare makes taking or teaching a class that much easier. In addition, you're able to connect with others through the platform.
Skillshare is there to connect you with professional artists and entrepreneurs who helped build million-dollar companies from the ground up. The project-based classes help users master real-world skills. In 2010, Skillshare was founded to make all of this possible. The platform provides classes on a range of skills in art, technology, business and other industries. The individual classes not only vary in subject, but also in length and structure. At Skillshare, anyone can be a student or a teacher.
Skillshare offers these learning opportunities through a $10 per month subscription model. That's led to more than 4 million students attending one of the 22,000 classes that are offered on the site. Once you have secured a subscription, you'll have unlimited access to over 150,000 classes. The goal of Skillshare is to close the professional skills gap by providing universal access to high-quality learning.
"By inspiring people to create, Skillshare enables them to make life-changing discoveries, advance their skills and careers, and learn about themselves," said Matt Cooper, Skillshare CEO. Through harnessing the technology necessary for making education more affordable and accessible, Skillshare allows people to change their lives, discover their passions and love their work. This is what makes Skillshare a great place to work. Employees come in every day feeling like they can have a positive impact on the world.
Diving Into the Values at Skillshare
Skillshare is a company that is driven by the mission and values that are at the company's core. This means that the team strives every day to make a global impact, which is why the company has created a community that fosters collaboration and inclusivity. Everyone who works at Skillshare is prideful about treating everyone as an owner of the business, while remaining focused on being transparent and flexible. The foundation of the company rests on these four values:
"As a mission-driven company, we spend a lot of time ensuring that candidates align with our core values, " said Cooper. "We find that candidates who share our values have a much higher probability of Skillshare being the best place for them to learn, develop and succeed."
The people at Skillshare believe that when they create, they're able to discover who they are. This kind of creativity stems from the community's encouragement for Skillshare to further explore expression, learning and discovery. Since the company's inception, the employees have been celebrated for their power of creativity. Especially when it comes to discovering new ideas.
"When you spend your days working to build a community around learning, growth and collaboration, it drives your whole workplace community," said Sabrina Kieffer, Chief Operating Officer. "The people who work at Skillshare care deeply about doing good work, and they're also invested in the lives, passions, and growth of the people around them."
The People at Skillshare
Putting You First
When it comes to working at Skillshare there is an important value that the management team lives and breathes every day: They put people first. Part of the company's mission extends to their own team members through means of ensuring they live balanced, fulfilling lives. While this can take on entirely different meanings for everyone, Skillshare makes sure it starts with a workplace that embraces modern flexibility, inclusivity and transparency.
The collaborative culture that Skillshare has built through its online community extends through to how the company works as a team. They've worked hard to create a culture that fosters clear communication and inclusivity, which may be one of the reasons Skillshare was recognized as a top place to work by BuiltinNYC and Crain's , one of the five best places to work for women by Bpeace , and a top-rated workplace for dads by Fatherly .
The people who work at Skillshare are lots of great things, but the three characteristics that stand out include being driven, empathetic and collaborative. With a one-team mindset, the employees check their egos at the door and remain focused on growing the company and themselves. And because they practice what they preach at Skillshare, everyone treats each other the way they'd want to be treated. The leadership at Skillshare really instills this foundational rule into the company.
The management team truly believes in maintaining an openness around the office. That's why they're always so accessible. Through means of one-on-one reports, skip-level meetings, team-wide meetings, coffees with people across departments and team events, the management team makes sure they're heavily involved with the employees. In addition, they strive to encourage you to:
Employees even say that management is extremely transparent. From explaining why a strategic decision was made to keeping employees up to speed on the company's finances, they're sure to treat you like the adult that you are. The CEO and management team are also open to feedback and questions from everyone. It doesn't matter if you've been there for 5 minutes or 25 years. You'll be heard either way. Every perspective is welcome and feedback is strongly encouraged at Skillshare.
Everyone at Skillshare has ownership over their projects. And management is really good about letting you solve problems in whatever way you think best serves the users. Everyone has access to work on high-impact projects. And not to mention, but you'll have the flexibility to work on those projects anywhere and anytime you want.
Employees say that colleagues at Skillshare are a lot of fun to be around. The employees are constantly trying to improve themselves, while also helping others become better versions of themselves.
The Culture at Skillshare
Sharing Your Skills Through Collaboration
The culture at Skillshare is balanced between being focused and flexible. This fluid environment allows for seamless movement between working hard individually to working in a group. The culture encourages employees to seek meditation during the day to promote stimulating collaboration. This culture gives the employees freedom to play to their strengths while being able to value different working styles.
The collaboration seen at Skillshare is often across teams and departments. This friendly atmosphere fosters employees who are open with each other while working together toward a shared purpose. A lot of the time, the collaboration at Skillshare doesn't happen in the same time zones. Through means of cross-team threads, project-based meetings, comments on RFC's, pull request reviews, Q&A sessions and your basic conversations, collaboration is always taking place at Skillshare.
In addition to the constant collaboration, the culture at Skillshare is very warm and welcoming. While also fast-paced, the people who work here feel supported in everything they do. They're encouraged to set ambitious goals that help them reach their mission of creating the best online learning experience. Employees have also mentioned they feel supported and encouraged to grow their career with Skillshare. Whether it's adding new responsibilities or changing departments entirely, the company will provide you with a mentor and on-the-job time to learn your new roles.
The Benefits at Skillshare
A PTO Policy With Only a Minimum Cap
Aside from a flexible work-from-home policy, Skillshare actually offers some pretty unique benefits. For example, at your 3-year anniversary with Skillshare you're offered a one month paid sabbatical or an additional one month bonus pay. Every year, in-office employees are allowed to use a month's worth of time to work from home throughout the year. In addition, they get to work from home every Tuesday. And catered lunch is provided every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Since management believes that well-rested employees are happier, more creative and productive, they get to enjoy an unlimited PTO policy. With the unlimited PTO policy, there is no limit on sick days. Which means if you're sick, they want you to stay home and feel better. And if you have to come in late for a doctor's appointment, or need to take off early Friday because you're going on vacation, the company understands. As long as you're getting your work done, you'll be given plenty of flexibility to tailor a schedule that fits into your life.
If you're one of those people who feel guilty using vacation days without having a maximum limit, working at Skillshare will ease your worries. The company has set a required minimum number of days that every employee must use each year. Any amount of time that you take beyond that is up to you. This unique asset really shows that the company encourages you to take time away from work to recharge.
As an employee at Skillshare, you can also expect 14 weeks of fully paid parental leave, a generous learning and development stipend, stock options and insurance plans including a 401k. Additionally, employees earn competitive salaries. And with a no-negotiation policy, you be sure the salary you're offered is one that is fair and equal across job titles. So you won't have to worry about being a good negotiator here. Plus the salaries they offer at Skillshare are in line with other companies in the industry.
The Skillshare office is located in the heart of the Flatiron district in close proximity to the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W subway stations. It's surrounded by great food and coffee options so when they're not enjoying a catered lunch, the team loves exploring new lunch spots and taking coffee walks together. And if that's not enough food to hold you for the day, the kitchen is always fully stocked with snacks. In addition, people also like to bring in baked goods so you'll have a variety of options that change almost every day. And last, but not least, don't forget about the regular happy hours the team goes to or the quarterly off-sites. It's clear through the benefits that are offered, Skillshare's No. 1 goal is to foster an environment where employees feel valued and appreciated. It's clear why so many people love working there.
