Great if you like some chaos around you - Senior Software Engineer Cloudera Employee Review

4.0
Dec 30, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Gender equality and D&I is taken very seriously (when it comes to US minorities, esp.). Compensation package is quite good. Work-life balance can be really good, but not always. Highly skilled engineers around you. Open-source development, and the visibility that comes with it. Engineers get to interview who they are supposed to work with.

Cons

Too US-centric. Sometimes, I felt that we were second class citizens. That was partly because the company is like that, and partly because the majority of the team was US-based, and they had more control over the product roadmap. Work-life balance can sometimes be bad, but still not very bad. Many people are overskilled for the work they are expected to do. They select the best people in the interview process then give them non-senior level tasks. Not everyone is highly skilled. Support engineers are cheap workforce from India mainly, and they only serve as mail forwardimg agents between the pissed off customers and the engineers. When I had escalations, by the time I was involved, the customer was furious, and the support engineer had zero input. This happened quite frequently. It was different when the support organization was in Hungary. Total lack of processes. Sure, that means no rigid processes, but when you need something, you have to spend awful lot of time to figure out how to get it. A lot of things happened to the company, and all of it was communicated really badly to clouderans.

Explore other reviews about Cloudera

5.0
Jul 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They kept it really real

Cons

Although they kept it real that came with many drawbacks which can be assumed.

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Amazing and supportive community with highly talented and approachable colleagues. * Welcoming, inclusive, and friendly culture that makes it easy to feel part of the team. * Excellent technology stack built around Apache Software Foundation projects and modern engineering practices. * Strong open-source-first mindset that promotes innovation, transparency, and collaboration. * Flexible work arrangements with the option to work from home, while office attendance is encouraged to foster collaboration and maintain a strong sense of community. * Gorgeous offices worldwide that provide an inspiring and comfortable work environment. * Plenty of opportunities to learn, grow, and work on impactful projects alongside exceptional engineers.

Cons

* The highly flexible work-from-home culture, while appreciated by many, can sometimes lead to sparsely populated offices. Employees who value face-to-face interactions and spontaneous collaboration may find it harder to build connections and discover new opportunities. * Processes and organizational structures are intentionally lightweight, but this can occasionally result in unclear ownership, shifting priorities, and coordination challenges when deadlines approach. * The strong emphasis on autonomy means teams may operate differently, which can make cross-team coordination and planning less predictable. * Communication and collaboration often require a proactive approach, especially in a distributed environment.

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Cloudera Response
1mo
Thank you for your 5-star review and your eight years of dedication to Cloudera. We are glad you value our inclusive culture, open-source mindset, and talented team. We appreciate your constructive feedback on cross-team coordination and distributed collaboration. Your insights are incredibly valuable as we continue to improve our planning processes while maintaining the workplace flexibility our employees enjoy.
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