Pros
- Almost all employees are extremely competent, friendly, and have a great attitude. The "No A-hole" policy works. - The software and the team are actually making a difference in the world. The missions in antifraud, law enforcement, national security, and others are really inspirational. - A real commitment to protecting privacy and civil liberties. I, personally, feel much better about the government agencies that have my personal info using Palantir, than any other software that does similar things (and probably hasn't built protections in from the ground-up.) - The technical bar is high, and there's lots of opportunity to learn from others who are better than you (and not stuck up about it... see the first point.) - Lots of individual autonomy. Employees are treated as adults in regards to time management, resource usage, technology choices, etc. - Company leadership has a commitment to transparency, which is especially important in the face of some of the tricky moral dilemmas that come with access to lots of data. When there are issues, they're brought out in the open and discussed. - Lots of perks (meals, snacks, swag, laundry, massage, chiro, physician, events). Other reviews have mentioned meals as a way of chaining you to your desk, but that hasn't been my experience. Nobody cares if I fill up to-go containers and bring dinner home to the family, or invite outside friends to eat a nice leisurely lunch (see point about being treated like an adult). - Equity that will actually be worth something.
Cons
- There have been some growing pains as the company expands rapidly. It's starting to feel less like one big happy family and more fragmented. - There is always so much to do, and always too few hands to do it. Since we have a lot of autonomy to dictate our own load/pace, we can often self-impose too much, and/or try to keep up with the next guy who is inevitably whip-smart and hard working. I almost always feel like I'm behind (which, admittedly, may be my own anxiety - nobody is harping on me to catch up.) - All leads are promoted from within, which means that while they will definitely understand your engineering challenges, they may still be honing their management and people skills. - The recruiting/interviewing load can eat up a lot of time during the heavy seasons, killing whole weeks of independent productivity. It's important work, but can be draining. - People outside the company call us "secretive" and "shadowy" and accuse us of doing nefarious things that we don't do. Inevitably, arguing and feeding the trolls just makes you sound worse. - Salaries are lower than other silicon valley companies. It's enough to live comfortably, and all those pros definitely soften the blow.