Salesforce

I had competitive offers from multiple companies, but I decided to go with Salesforce for a few reasons. What stuck out during the hiring process was:

• I was a real person to Salesforce, and I really mattered. At another company in the Bay Area (which is widely considered to be the most prestigious company to work for... no specifics, but it's a search engine that starts with a G), an interviewer called me 1 hour late for an interview and 15 minutes late for the rescheduled interview. They also told me that their interview process was 6-8 weeks long and was totally inflexible. At Salesforce, on the other hand, every interview started right on the dot of the scheduled time, and the hiring process was just under 3 weeks from beginning to end. I had to have special accommodations and stay an extra night after the interview due to a disability that makes it difficult to travel late at night, and they extended my hotel booking without any question.
• All the employees are passionate about their work. This is because of a system called Open Opportunity Market where you are allowed to leave your team and join any other team with an open spot during releases. Basically, everyone does the job that they want, and nobody is stuck in a role they hate.
• Everyone is super friendly. My interviewers all asked me if I was comfortable and if I needed a break or anything to drink or a snack.

Now that I'm here, I'm happy with the decision I made. I think my favorite thing about the company is that they are very open to change. Management really, really listens to what everyone wants, whether it's a change in development process or better snacks in the kitchen.

The work/life balance is great – you can work remotely as often as you'd like, and you can come in or leave whenever as long as you're productive. There are catered lunches all the time and a full-service coffee shop in the office. The parties are great (I was second row to see Metallica at a company party 2 weeks after I joined!), and the people are awesome.

The development process can be cumbersome. The build breaks very often, and grabbing one bad changelist that breaks an essential component of the build can totally nuke your productivity for a whole day.

Onboarding time takes 3-6 months since there are so many moving parts and a lot of different languages involved in development.

No parking at the offices in HQ since they're all in downtown San Francisco.

Don't let the company culture escape us as the company grows. Don't add any extra bureaucracy, and definitely don't tone down the parties.