Pros: I joined Palantir from industry. I previously worked as a software engineer at a popular, large Silicon Valley tech company. I've learned more here at Palantir in a few months than I had in over a year at my previous job, and this is even after years of software engineering experience. I attribute this to the high caliber of people that I work with at Palantir, and the tremendous challenges we have to tackle. The level of impact I can have on the projects is extremely high. Not only are my contributions meaningful and make a significant difference on whether our product ships successfully or not, but also I have a pretty big level of exposure to how we deploy and sell our product out in the world. Combine that with the fact that our products have a tremendous impact on the real world in a very real manner, and you get an awesome environment that I think is very difficult to find anywhere else.

Cons: The high hiring bar means we have a hard time hiring folks, which means our teams can be strapped for people. You may wear multiple technical hats as a software engineer and be challenged in ways that will make you grow. This may not be everyone's cup of tea.

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.

Pros: Palantir's products help with life and death decisions on a daily basis. The work is incredibly meaningful.

Cons: This is not a "rest and vest" company--people are expected to contribute significantly.