Pros: Indeed's Innovation Lab is like the Bell Labs or Skunk Works of Indeed. We have the freedom to explore new ideas, funneling creativity into real, live, tested products. Indeed prides itself in being extremely data-driven and investing in employee growth. Innovation Labs takes Indeed's core strengths further with moonshot projects. The mission of these moonshots is to grow Indeed's impact, validate the feasibility of these ideas, and leverage Indeed's assets along the way. I feel like I'm able to make a big impact, and my contributions are appreciated. This group would be ideal for strong Django/full stack/start-up minded engineers and developers.

Cons: The free breakfast and lunches are extremely healthy. Quinoa, flaxseed, kale, raspberries, etc. These options are great, but sometimes... you just want a slice of pizza.

Pros: Good work-life balance, relatively low stress.

Cons: Multiple rounds of layoffs, lots of internal swirl and reorg. Hoping things stabilize when the dust settles.

Pros: Indeed's branding is on point. The open PTO, as well as the free food and booze, are pretty great for a millennial just getting started in the professional workforce. They have over-hired over the last couple of years, especially in Search Quality, so take all the PTO you want. Lots of people of similar age means nothing compares to the social setting. You'll have no problem making friends with your coworkers, and they're a really open atmosphere. They also have a really heavy corporate emphasis on diversity, with countless affinity groups. You're bound to feel included somewhere.

Cons: Some 'abridged' words of caution for anyone considering a job in Search Quality at Indeed. Note that I cannot attest to any other department's experience. *BEWARE for those who just want any job at Indeed: Search Quality as a department is oft considered the 'awkward stepchild' of Indeed, something nobody will admit to in the hiring process. If you are looking for a shoe-in at a growing company and plan to eventually transfer departments, I pray you think again. There is no horizontal mobility unless you want to go to QA (for the same sub-organization) or coast until your next outside opportunity arises. Oftentimes other departments will ignore an internal application simply based on their team of origin. Even then, it is up to the manager's discretion and not truly weighted on one's technical ability, subject matter expertise, or any equitable merit. Some general takeaways from the experience: * Hiring process/Promotions: They both tended to be quite nepotistic. Friends will be promoted while hard workers simply keep doing just that--working hard. * Personal career development: You will not have any opportunity to grow outside of the canned "Analyst > Senior Analyst > Team Lead" path. Total absence of guidelines for internal mobility around the Indeed corporate structure. Self-education is encouraged outside of work only, and the internal learning seminars are nothing more than a bunch of engineers/devs showing off some cool things they made that will most likely never be introduced in the actual live site. * Overall professionalism/job specs: There isn't any formal discipline that 'search quality' can fall under, so the backgrounds in this department range from Art History to Zoology. While that isn't in itself a con, barely anyone has any technical know-how coming in, despite asking for "Python skillz" on all the job adverts. This leads to managers being overly selective in the hiring process, with hopes that someone will help. Meanwhile, analysts drone on day in and day out on highly repetitive tasks that would frankly be more suited for outsourcing. * Social environment: While the majority of the coworkers you will get along with, a small fraction of hypersensitive employees will not let you forget that you are in the moral minority if you don't think like them. These individuals turn the workplace into a cautious, queasy environment where even the slightest annoyance could land you an HR complaint. Managers tend to sidestep the problem with fear of more HR complaints; this is a negative feedback loop. Seemingly weekly themed happy hours are cool though... * Management style: Laissez-faire management is a tech industry mantra, it seems. It works GREAT when your team is inspired by what they do. In reality, managers at Indeed have no real top-level direction and typically just take the first idea that gets bubbled up from below. 'Metrics' and 'statistics' are dirty, dirty words around these here parts. * Last but not least--Salary: Well below average for the Austin area, as well as the tech industry in general. They'll try to doll it up like, "But we have open PTO! and food! and even kegs!"--these things do nothing to detract from the lack of direction and personal growth you will experience taking a job here. The bonus schemes are cryptic and pretty much just rely on how well your team lead likes you any given quarter. All Indeed truly has going for them is branding.