Pros
I've worked at DataRobot for a while and have found it a rewarding, but also very challenging environment at times. Some of the biggest pros at the company are: - You really work with incredible data science and developer talent. I think some of the people are definitely the best in the world and that's awesome. - Very international company. You meet and work with people all over the world, and while it was a bit confusing at first, I love getting to meet and work with people with so many ideas and experiences. - Ambitious projects are the norm. Most of the project I have worked on are hard. There are few if any easy solutions and the projects will really push you. - Great career growth. I've learned and improved in so many skill areas. The nature of the projects and the work environment really improve your skills. - A lot of freedom in how you do your work. There aren't specific set hours, and a lot of how you accomplish your tasks is heavily self-directed. From a compensation and benefits side, the salaries are fair and competitive, the healthcare is amazing (A+++) and there are a lot of other perks such as the office (pre-covid) and things like legal and pet insurance which are nice to have. There have been a lot of structure changes since I've joined, and I don't feel any of them are particularly negative. I like change, and tend to embrace it personally, so I have enjoyed most of the changes. I've also felt like projects I've worked on have made serious impacts inside and outside the company, which is pretty awesome. It's a challenging company to work at for sure, but I think if that excites you it is a great place to work.
Cons
The main con to some people is probably obvious from the pros. It's a very ambitious company and people work very hard. This doesn't mean you have to work 80-100 hours a week, but with tough projects and many timezones there isn't really a concept of a 9-5 workday here. You may start super early or end late, and on ambitious projects I've worked many weekends. It's up to employees to work and identify the time balance that works for them and also aligns with the company. I don't mean this comment in a scary way, just that it's not a clock-in and clock-out type of company. The other main con is that occasionally teams take on too much work and I've had projects where I've spent a lot of time working alone. I prefer working in groups and on teams, and have definitely had team projects as well, but it's not really a place where you always or never work in a specific way. So a lot of adaptability is required. Again, possibly not a con, but people may view it as such. From a compensation/benefits side, the company has no matching 401k retirement program or bonuses, which you may find in other similar companies. The company retirement match is probably the biggest thing I'd really like to see. So to be 100% fair to anyone reading this, I really enjoy working at DataRobot, but it's not for everyone and I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. If you like the challenge you'll love it, but if you're just looking to be a better data scientist with minimal environment pressures, I'd probably look elsewhere.