Lack of career development and earning potential - Software Engineer Zillow Employee Review

1.0
Jun 5, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Coworkers and team are incredibly talented and smart

Cons

The company has a policy where if you make an internal transfer to a different team or department with a more lucrative field they're not going to increase your salary. Let's say you make a move from senior customer service to a software engineering role and have to take a small step down in job leveling. Even entry level software engineers make on average more than a customer service advocate, but HR will reason that due to your "lack of experience" you won't get a salary increase. If you make a lateral move, it is the same thing. The company will push back as hard as they can to under pay you while they spend over hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring in external candidates. I believed HR when they gave me this reasoning and was underpaid by over 50k a year because I trusted them. This didn't just happen to me but to other teammates as well. It's company policy. During an internal mobility workshop, someone asked if ZG will atleast compensate successful transfers with salaries that match with their roles market value. The response was "we try to make the best offer right off the bat and maybe will negotiate depending on the case." This essentially is a big fat no.

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Zillow Response
4y
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. Internal career mobility is really important to us at Zillow Group- so important that we offer training on career moves and a dedicated team to support internal moves. Unfortunately at times we have more interest in positions than opportunities. Pay is always competitive based on market and experience so would be glad to discuss your concerns. Feel free to email me at dans@zillowgroup.com.

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5.0
May 2, 2026
Anonymous intern
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Pros

Very collaborative team, encouraging team members and managers. Great experience overall.

Cons

Because most people work remote, sometimes it can be hard to meet immediately to chat.

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Zillow Response
1mo
Thank you for sharing your experience as an intern at Zillow. We’re glad to hear that your team felt collaborative and supportive, and that your managers helped create a positive environment overall. We also appreciate your perspective on remote work and the challenges that can sometimes come with connecting quickly in a distributed environment. Feedback like yours helps us continue improving how teams stay connected through Cloud HQ.
3.0
May 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You can make good money here.

Cons

In sales, job can change often. For example: I was making good money and excelling because I am a relationship Sales person. Then they changed it to where you get the sale, and instead of being able to grow that account via that relationship you just broke into, you have to pass it to an account manager and go back to cold/robo calling. You "book" of business you recive to prospect from is a lottery. I received a book of prospects/accounts that most of the were low income, or senior living properties. They don't have a budget and have a line of renter on a waitlist. No way to convince them to spend money on advertising but you still have the same quota.

2
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Zillow Response
1mo
Thank you for sharing such a detailed perspective. We understand that frequent changes to roles, account ownership and business priorities can have a real impact on relationship-building and the day-to-day experience in sales. We’re glad to hear compensation was a positive part of your time at Zillow, and we appreciate you being candid about where the model and structure felt frustrating. Feedback like yours helps us better understand how these changes are experienced across teams as the business evolves.
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