Work Culture

This blog is a continuation of my last post about my professional background and transition to a new career at Caktus Group. As an update: I still dig it here.

This is a blog post about where I come from and where I’m headed as a team member at Caktus Group. I’ll only be on my soapbox for a few paragraphs, pinky promise.

In the July 16 episode of Modern CTO, Colin Copeland, Caktus Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer goes one-on-one with podcast host Joel Beasley. They discuss the:

In March 2020, with the first wave of the coronavirus hitting the US, Caktus sent all its employees home. One year later, with working from home still in effect, our days punctuated by virtual meetings via Google Hangouts and chats via Slack, our co-founders decided it was time to connect in another way.

I recently completed a three-month internship with Caktus Group. This is a major accomplishment for me because two years ago, to the day, I was working as a consultant in the education services industry. I was inspired to pursue a career in web development after I came across a six-month course teaching full-stack Javascript. In sharing my experience, I hope to shed light on what it’s like working as an intern at Caktus, and give professionals looking to transition into web development some advice that may be useful once they land an entry-level position. In general, my experience felt a little like this:

We are pleased to continue serving the North Carolina community at-large through our semi-annual Charitable Giving Program. Twice a year we solicit proposals from our team to contribute to a variety of non-profit organizations. With this program, we look to support groups in which Cakti are involved or that have impacted their lives in some way. This gives Caktus a chance to support our own employees as well as the wider community. For the first half of 2019 we are pleased to support the following charities:

Pictured: Scott, Kat, and Tim take a quick break for a game of cards.

It may be no surprise that there are gamers among our Caktus crew, but you may be surprised by the type of games that Cakti play. From the ancient art of Mahjong to the modern fun of Pokemon, our team members cover it all.

Pictured from left: Our musically inclined Cakti, Dane Summers, Dan Poirier, and Ian Huckabee.

The first installment of the secret lives of Cakti highlighted some colorful extracurriculars (including rescuing cats, running endurance events, and saving lives). This time, we’re taking a look at our team’s unexpected musical talents.

Pictured from left: Caktus team members Vinod Kurup, Karen Tracey, and David Ray.

The Caktus team includes expert developers, sharp project managers, and eagle-eyed QA analysts. However, you may not know that there’s more to them than meets the eye. Here’s a peek at how Cakti spend their off-hours.

Twice a year we solicit proposals from our team to contribute to a variety of non-profit organizations. With this program, we look to support groups in which Cakti are involved or that have impacted their lives in some way. This gives Caktus a chance to support our own employees as well as the wider community. For the first half of 2018, we are pleased to donate to the following organizations: