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Great Place for a 9 to 5 but Typical Large Company Annoyances

Software Engineer II
Former Employee
Worked at Indeed for 2 years
August 12, 2022
Austin, Texas
3.0
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

At the highest level, Indeed takes care of its employees. There were a number of programs while I was there, such as reimbursing WFH expenses and guaranteeing RSUs that many companies would spurn as unnecessary or too expensive.

Indeed tries to model itself after other large, successful tech companies (Apple, Google, etc.), and its employees approach work with a deserved pride. I have benefited from having Indeed on my resume because the company has notoriety and respect.

It's a meme at this point, but the breakfasts and lunches at the cafeteria ensured I was well-fed.

Cons

Indeed is not immune from typical complaints of large companies.

In general, I found it difficult to understand department-level decisions. This is likely due to the sheer hierarchy of the organization (I never met my initial manager's manager, for example).

My initial product space was discontinued, and I found myself "moved" to a product space that seemed ill-defined (I should have requested to move to something else through an internal job board rather than hoping my manager would do something about it).

I personally strongly disliked how raises and promotions were awarded to engineers. Although it is the same system across roles at Indeed, it seemed like you needed to be prepared to move mountains in order to get relatively small raises (which lead to promotion), but alternatively could do the bare minimum and "coast" on your current salary for quite a while (i.e., the difference between "exceeding" and "meeting" expectations).

Indeed has been around for 17 years, and there are a lot of legacy systems (IQL, for example) that, while cutting-edge for their time, have been superseded by other tools. This amounts to a lot of Indeed-specific tech to learn, even for experienced people.

Advice to Management

I would change how raises are awarded at the very least. Perhaps the current system works for promotions, but to not get yearly raises if you are in good standing doesn't seem consistent with the industry. Indeed does have a third-party review salaries and suggest cost of living increases for everyone or subsets. It wasn't clear to me or my manager how this affected my salary, if at all.

Additional Ratings

Work/Life Balance
5.0
Culture and Values
4.0
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
5.0
Career Opportunities
3.0
Compensation and Benefits
4.0
Senior Management
4.0

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