Software Developer • Current Employee
Pros: - Awesome people: I've worked for many different companies and in multiple industries. These are the best co-workers I've ever had. It's not just confined to my team either; I find myself making friends with people in completely different teams. Pretty much everyone I run into is easy to get along with and respectful.
Oh, and did I mention there are some REALLY smart people working here?
- Great work-life balance: I'm not constantly in crunch mode or working late/working weekends, nor is there any pressure to do so!
- Interesting work: I find the cloud-based analytics product we're working on to be very interesting. I can see the value it actually has to a business, and I feel challenged to innovate and pump out amazing features.
- Fun culture with cool perks: You'd think a German enterprise software company wouldn't be fun, but it's quite the opposite! The Vancouver Labs have all sorts of fun events that go on:
* Food trucks
* Buffets + beer on the rooftop
* Annual summer & Christmas parties
* Therapy puppies
* E-sports event tix (SAP sponsors Team Liquid)
* A lunch card
* And the list goes on and on...
It really is the "Goldilocks Workplace", in that it hits a happy medium in all the right spots. Decent compensation, interesting work, with just the right amount of pressure and innovation to keep things challenging in a good way. It's stable, secure, and the company's prospects are blue skies and green pastures all the way. It's a company you can see yourself staying at for a very, very, very long time. I recommend it to all my friends and loved ones, knowing that I'd be doing them a solid by getting them a job here.
Cons: The rumor mill is that while SAP pays somewhere in the top 5th percentile, some of our competitors (e.g., Salesforce, Amazon, Microsoft) pay even more. I guess you have to ask yourself, what's that extra 20%-ish pay bump worth trading off?
The business can be very old-school corporate in some aspects, with word from Germany trumping the needs of local teams. It gets really annoying, for example, when the annual 3rd/4th quarter headcount freeze hits, because you know it always lifts at the start of next year, and all the hiring gets done then. I feel bad for really good candidates who are simply "unlucky" in the timing of their graduation. There are also odd business policies occasionally, such as no more on-site stationery. Not a big deal, but it's a good example of the strange instructions that come down from HQ sometimes. It's a behemoth of a company, with lots of constantly shifting parts, but I'm sure it's the same at most companies of this magnitude.
Not all roles are built equal. While I personally have had a great experience, I do know that in other teams and other roles (non-dev roles), there may not be as much opportunity for advancement or innovation. So, to whomever reads this, please keep in mind that my perspective is from that of a Software Developer role. Take that however you wish.