Handshake reviews

3.1

45% would recommend to a friend

(64 total reviews)

Garrett Lord

43% approve of CEO

40% positive business outlook

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64 reviews

Reviews about "Compensation"

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1.0
May 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Honestly struggled to find a genuine pro here. If I had to name one, it would be that the funding level gives you access to resources you wouldn't expect, it has the budget of a mature company. But that's where the positives end.

Cons

The culture here is one of the most challenging I've experienced in my career. There's a significant gap between what's communicated during the interview process and the day-to-day reality. Leadership plays favorites in ways that are hard to ignore. Policies like the five-day in-office requirement are selectively enforced, certain people are quietly allowed to come in two or three days a week while others are held to the full mandate. Promotions, visibility, and high-impact projects tend to go to those with pre-existing relationships with leadership rather than based on performance or tenure. If you're an external hire, be prepared to feel like an outsider regardless of what you deliver. The growth narrative they sell in interviews doesn't match reality. Career development conversations are surface level at best, and there's no structured path forward for most roles. Meanwhile, the hire fast fire fast approach means the team is constantly churning, which makes it nearly impossible to build momentum or trust. Benefits and total compensation lag behind what comparable companies in the space are offering. When you factor in the mandatory five-day RTO, the gap becomes even more noticeable. From a product standpoint, competitors like Mercor and Scale are meaningfully ahead. It's hard to recruit top talent or feel excited about the mission when the product isn't leading the market.

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