Netflix

Netflix is a place where you are surrounded by some really great minds.

I wouldn't even say that some of the people are good while others somehow seemed to 'slip' in. If you aren't one of the best in your line of work, I don't think you'll ever get in the door here.

I've been here for a number of years and have had the privilege to work with some extremely bright people. As an employee (and part of a team), it's good to know that whatever you are working on is going to be top-notch because of who is working on it.

Netflix also encourages you to learn and explore new technologies and expand your own knowledge base. At past companies, this was always a problem. If something didn't directly relate to what you were working on, well, you had to make excuses and come up with reasons why you wanted to try something new. At Netflix, they not only encourage it but really urge you to try to broaden your own skill set.

Our paid time off policy is not to be beat. Netflix has none! No two weeks a year or so many days off for personal/sick leave garbage. Instead, you just tell your manager that you wanted to take three weeks off next month and he says, "Okay, have a good time. We'll see ya when you get back!"

How cool is that?

It's all about movies for me. I used to think I was a bit of a movie buff. Yeah, that was until I worked here and met real movie buffs. Meetings are filled with references to movies. In one of the team meetings I go to every week, you can count the number of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" lines.

"Show me the money." Netflix really does pay well! I left my old job doing the exact same thing I do here. The only difference is, I make 2x as much!

I'd like to write more, but those reasons alone are pretty good.

When I first started, the head of HR said, "Netflix is a high-performance environment."

Often, I feel like they have confused "high pressure" with "high performance," and believe me, there is a difference.

Sometimes I feel like they over-exaggerate the importance of some features. I mean, no one is going to die on the table here, guys. It's just a movie rental company.

Our medical/health benefits are mediocre at best, and HR doesn't seem to care that the majority of employees are totally dissatisfied with the offerings.

After constant employee complaints on how high our benefit prices are, HR comes back with even higher prices this year while having even less coverage.

I'm not buying the line they fed us either: "Benefits are more expensive everywhere across the country."

Whatever. If I gave that as an excuse why I didn't get a project completed on time, I'd be "talked to."

Every year, we have this total joke of a review process (360 reviews).

You have to rate your peers and get ratings back from the people you asked to rate you. From my experience, it's totally pointless and a huge waste of time/energy across the company.

If we spent even a quarter of the time and money it takes to run, manage, and maintain this 360 review process, we'd have double the amount of movies in our Watch Instantly offering.

Don't come here thinking you'll rise through the ranks. That just doesn't happen here.

Yes, there are a few people who have started out as individual contributors and risen to the higher ranks, but for the most part, I've watched very talented people leave Netflix to get management positions elsewhere, and Netflix doesn't really care.

When you accept a job here, it will most likely be in the same position for the rest of your time at Netflix.

There is also a very "big brother" feel here. Netflix HR is watching you.

But maybe that's just me. People seem to "disappear" sometimes.

None, really. I have been very impressed with the direction the company is going. Decisions that I thought were misguided have really turned out well. My only real gripe with Netflix is Benefits and HR.