Valuable work, toxic (they’ll call it unique) culture
Pros
The “fruit cart” mentality is 100% true at Panda. You will have a lot of responsibility and can really own your projects, learning a ton along the way. You can see the work that you do truly impact the company.
Cons
You’ll be watching your back the whole time while you’re working, since your movement up in the company 80% depends on how people perceive you and how much they like you, which depends on how much you divulge about yourself personally; 20% is your performance. I’ve never felt so judged in a work setting for choosing not to be in the in-crowd, for choosing to have a separation between my work life and personal life. If you work at Panda, get ready for that complete blend of work/personal/family, whether you like it or not. The emphasis on this trumps good/smart performance and work, which is frustrating when your work is stellar and is directly propelling the company forward, but you can’t progress since you aren’t going on vacations with your coworkers or sharing all of your vulnerabilities with them.