Pros: Palantir is a very well-run company with incredibly high-caliber employees and products. Code reviews are rigorous, and the quality of software is stellar. Lots of interesting work, fast-paced team.

Cons: The company's culture is such that you do need to be willing to commit more than just working hours to it. There is a culture of Palantir being in many aspects of life, from weekend hangouts to business trips, etc.

Pros: The primary reason I joined Palantir, and continue to work at Palantir, is the opportunity I have to learn and grow. Palantir highly encourages technical growth, and I have often been paired with another developer on projects in order to further my skills. This sort of learning also happens through self-organized, informal efforts, such as: * Reading groups * Hobbit Academy (internal classes and mini-workshops) * Pizza and Papers (order a bunch of pizza and discuss an academic paper) * Others One of the primary criteria for choosing where to work was how much I would continue developing as an engineer. At Palantir, I have not only improved significantly, but also continued learning about interesting new developments and technologies. In addition to this, I’ve found that Palantirians tend to be well-aligned in our goals and objectives, which makes it all the more gratifying to work as part of a team. Everyone at Palantir is focused on the same outcomes — delivering the most value to our customers in the most effective way. Palantir seeks to give as much context as possible to everyone at the company and strives to make sure everyone understands the decisions that affect them. This way, with everyone on the same page, it truly feels like working towards a shared vision.

Cons: As a rapidly growing company, we often find processes that once worked in the past no longer do so. Process changes can be painful, and it often takes some experimentation and iteration to determine what the new best process will be. This is somewhat mitigated by the leadership's transparency around new initiatives and a willingness to admit failure when things don't work.

Pros: Very grateful this is where I started my career, with plenty of amazing mentors and opportunities to grow beyond my comfort zone.

Cons: It's unclear how transferable the backend tech stack is to other engineering jobs.