Pros: Credit Karma is fantastic because it tackles interesting technological questions at a great location with smart people who care about one another. From an engineering perspective, we constantly have to tackle challenging problems. We build native applications for two mobile platforms and for the Web; we work with two credit bureaus and dozens of financial partners (and we're constantly onboarding more partners), each with its own APIs and technical demands; we constantly have to ensure the security of our users' personal information; and we're always building new features to provide the most comprehensive set of credit information on the Web. Each employee is given a stipend to attend (and is encouraged to apply to speak at) technical conferences. As to company culture, we have perks and experiences that are tough to beat. Like most tech companies, we have fully-stocked kitchens (healthy and less healthy snacks, breakfast cereal, bagels, keg coolers for both beer and iced coffee, etc.) and game rooms (with multiple gaming consoles and a rotating set of vintage arcade games). We convert two of the kitchens into yoga studios twice a week for free yoga classes that are open to all employees. On Wednesday afternoons and Friday afternoons there are often happy hours or other events like trivia nights, movie nights, outings to the Giants game (with an opportunity to go out on the field beforehand during batting practice!), etc. In addition, we have regular company retreats. We did a day at the zoo back in October 2014, had a company Field Day in June (with sumo suits, bubble soccer, a pie eating contest, and more), and recently got to go to the batting cages in AT&T Park and meet Draymond Green after the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge road race. Ultimately, though, your experience is defined by the people you work most closely with. Credit Karma's employees universally buy in to its culture – great work/life balance, celebrating each other's accomplishments, etc. To encourage team cohesion, teams (engineering and non-engineering) will go to nice dinners as a group and participate in other team-bonding events (one team is going sailing on the Bay later this week). On the rare occasions when a team member experiences a personal setback (illness in the family, injury, etc.), other members of the team will pick up the slack without question. That sense of giving spills over into the broader community: Credit Karma sponsors blood drives, toy drives, volunteering at coding camps for needy children, and other events that have an impact beyond its walls. Working in an office that promotes empathy, wellness, and happiness is a recipe for productivity and employee retention.

Cons: Like any company that has old code and a larger engineering team, Credit Karma still has to deal with legacy code and with cross-team integration for software written by one team but consumed by another. In addition, although we have plenty of space, we're situated on two different floors in each of two different buildings. The two floors in the larger building are also not consecutive floors. It would be great if we could move into our own building or if we could have adjoining floors to facilitate cross-team participation.

Pros: Employees are legitimately cared for from the top down. This is shown in the benefits, leadership’s actions when the pandemic negatively impacted the company, and in the framework and structures for individual growth. I think this fosters a culture of people who care and are driven. The compensation policy is generous and reflective of the leadership team’s values. This may or may not be standard in the industry, but they review market rates for each role twice a year and adjust compensation up to it. I have not heard of someone having their compensation lowered, but they have admitted that promotions may be smaller pay jumps if the next level has had its compensation moved.

Cons: Like all companies, your immediate team and manager are not created equally. Not everyone has a great experience or the same opportunities for promotions because of the performance and perceived importance of their and their team’s work. One other major con is a consistent resistance to remote work. While leadership does genuinely push for flexibility and that each individual should be given the opportunity to manage their life and their work, leadership firmly believes that the company does its best when employees work in-person.

Pros: Great team, great culture. Good work-life balance.

Cons: Processes sometimes aren't well defined.