Slack

Front End Engineer Interview Experience - San Francisco, California

April 1, 2016

Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

A recruiter reached out to me via email, and we spoke over the phone.

Several days later, I spoke with an engineering manager for about 30 minutes, also on the phone. The conversation was positive, though they seemed narrow-minded about the technology they use, and I found it difficult to gauge what exactly they were looking for in the position.

Immediately afterward, I received an email with the technical exercise and a deadline. No one asked me about my timetable before sending me the exercise, but I went ahead with it.

The exercise was described as the entire technical criteria for the process. It was a straightforward web engineering task, and I was asked to use vanilla JavaScript throughout. I was thorough when completing the exercise and felt fine about what I submitted.

About a week later, I received an impersonal rejection form email. There were no details or feedback, and no further communication from anyone at the company.

Questions

Build a UI with JavaScript

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 3 interview experiences for the Slack Front End Engineer role in San Francisco, California.

Success Rate

33%

Pass Rate

Slack's interview process for their Front End Engineer roles in San Francisco, California is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive33%

Neutral0%

Negative67%

Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Slack's Front End Engineer interview process in San Francisco, California.

Slack Work Experiences

downhill very quickly

Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: It is easy to get things done on a monolithic architecture. We have good, direct teammates.

Cons: No RSU refreshers that come anywhere close to the initial grant, and do not expect to stay here longer than 4 years. Very stagnant for your software engineering career, because there aren't any interesting engineering problems to solve, which yeah, is a testament to how well Slack's architecture works. 0 growth opportunity. Team handed off to 4 different managers in as many months. Salesforce-influenced culture becoming very toxic.

downhill very quickly

Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: It is easy to get things done on a monolithic architecture. We have good, direct teammates.

Cons: No RSU refreshers that come anywhere close to the initial grant, and do not expect to stay here longer than 4 years. Very stagnant for your software engineering career, because there aren't any interesting engineering problems to solve, which yeah, is a testament to how well Slack's architecture works. 0 growth opportunity. Team handed off to 4 different managers in as many months. Salesforce-influenced culture becoming very toxic.

Well rounded

Senior Software Engineer • Former Employee

San Francisco, CA

Pros: Interesting challenges, kind and smart people, great diversity, and lots of senior mentorship

Cons: Loved my time here, and only left for a unique opportunity.

Senior Software Engineer • Former Employee

San Francisco, CA

Pros: Interesting challenges, kind and smart people, great diversity, and lots of senior mentorship

Cons: Loved my time here, and only left for a unique opportunity.

Excellent Place to Work

Backend Software Engineer III • Current Employee

Pros: 1. Culture! I've been in many positions and interviews that talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Slack's culture is different. After only a month, my manager asked, "did you take time off between jobs? If not, find some time soon to take a few days away." 2. Public-Channel Culture: Kind of an extension of the above. Have you been at a company where asking questions in public channels was frowned upon? I have. But at Slack, you are highly encouraged to ask in public channels so others can search your answer in the future. I've had DMs with staff engineers who ask me to re-ask in a public channel so they can answer. 3. Developer Experience: Need to test a front end change? Backend change? Async message job? Cron job? It's all simple, and setup is less than a minute. Hands down the best development experience I've had.

Cons: 1. Documentation seems weak across the company. This encourages asking openly, which is nice, but sometimes I really want to start with a doc to get a basic understanding. 2. So many channels! Project channels, feature channels, development channels, escalation channels... This is a classic "pro and a con." It is incredibly overwhelming at first, and you really need to manage your time wisely. Speaking of which... 3. Be self-driven, or be behind: Slack more than other companies prefers self-driven, autonomous developers. Devs who prefer more structure to their everyday work may find it difficult to know what to do, and when. 4. Salesforce is a bit cheap: Salesforce, Slack's parent company, will wine-and-dine you for onboarding, which is nice! But that seems to be where it ends. After 3 months, there has been no mention of virtual team lunches or happy hours. On top of that, Salesforce is actively rolling back benefits they put in place during COVID, such as more permissive reimbursement for fitness. That is such an easy win for the company that I am aghast that they rolled it back. I'm sure they'll still throw a heck of a party for sales and clients though.

Excellent Place to Work

Backend Software Engineer III • Current Employee

Pros: 1. Culture! I've been in many positions and interviews that talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Slack's culture is different. After only a month, my manager asked, "did you take time off between jobs? If not, find some time soon to take a few days away." 2. Public-Channel Culture: Kind of an extension of the above. Have you been at a company where asking questions in public channels was frowned upon? I have. But at Slack, you are highly encouraged to ask in public channels so others can search your answer in the future. I've had DMs with staff engineers who ask me to re-ask in a public channel so they can answer. 3. Developer Experience: Need to test a front end change? Backend change? Async message job? Cron job? It's all simple, and setup is less than a minute. Hands down the best development experience I've had.

Cons: 1. Documentation seems weak across the company. This encourages asking openly, which is nice, but sometimes I really want to start with a doc to get a basic understanding. 2. So many channels! Project channels, feature channels, development channels, escalation channels... This is a classic "pro and a con." It is incredibly overwhelming at first, and you really need to manage your time wisely. Speaking of which... 3. Be self-driven, or be behind: Slack more than other companies prefers self-driven, autonomous developers. Devs who prefer more structure to their everyday work may find it difficult to know what to do, and when. 4. Salesforce is a bit cheap: Salesforce, Slack's parent company, will wine-and-dine you for onboarding, which is nice! But that seems to be where it ends. After 3 months, there has been no mention of virtual team lunches or happy hours. On top of that, Salesforce is actively rolling back benefits they put in place during COVID, such as more permissive reimbursement for fitness. That is such an easy win for the company that I am aghast that they rolled it back. I'm sure they'll still throw a heck of a party for sales and clients though.

downhill very quickly

Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee

Pros: It is easy to get things done on a monolithic architecture. We have good, direct teammates.

Cons: No RSU refreshers that come anywhere close to the initial grant, and do not expect to stay here longer than 4 years. Very stagnant for your software engineering career, because there aren't any interesting engineering problems to solve, which yeah, is a testament to how well Slack's architecture works. 0 growth opportunity. Team handed off to 4 different managers in as many months. Salesforce-influenced culture becoming very toxic.

2.0
downhill very quickly
Staff Software Engineer • Current Employee
Denver, CO
March 27, 2025
Pros: It is easy to get things done on a monolithic architecture. We have good, direct teammates.
Cons: No RSU refreshers that come anywhere close to the initial grant, and do not expect to stay here longer than 4 years. Very stagnant for your software engineering career, because there aren't any interesting engineering problems to solve, which yeah, is a testament to how well Slack's architecture works. 0 growth opportunity. Team handed off to 4 different managers in as many months. Salesforce-influenced culture becoming very toxic.

Well rounded

Senior Software Engineer • Former Employee

San Francisco, CA

Pros: Interesting challenges, kind and smart people, great diversity, and lots of senior mentorship

Cons: Loved my time here, and only left for a unique opportunity.

5.0
Well rounded
Senior Software Engineer • Former Employee
San Francisco, CA
May 16, 2024
Pros: Interesting challenges, kind and smart people, great diversity, and lots of senior mentorship
Cons: Loved my time here, and only left for a unique opportunity.

Excellent Place to Work

Backend Software Engineer III • Current Employee

Pros: 1. Culture! I've been in many positions and interviews that talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Slack's culture is different. After only a month, my manager asked, "did you take time off between jobs? If not, find some time soon to take a few days away." 2. Public-Channel Culture: Kind of an extension of the above. Have you been at a company where asking questions in public channels was frowned upon? I have. But at Slack, you are highly encouraged to ask in public channels so others can search your answer in the future. I've had DMs with staff engineers who ask me to re-ask in a public channel so they can answer. 3. Developer Experience: Need to test a front end change? Backend change? Async message job? Cron job? It's all simple, and setup is less than a minute. Hands down the best development experience I've had.

Cons: 1. Documentation seems weak across the company. This encourages asking openly, which is nice, but sometimes I really want to start with a doc to get a basic understanding. 2. So many channels! Project channels, feature channels, development channels, escalation channels... This is a classic "pro and a con." It is incredibly overwhelming at first, and you really need to manage your time wisely. Speaking of which... 3. Be self-driven, or be behind: Slack more than other companies prefers self-driven, autonomous developers. Devs who prefer more structure to their everyday work may find it difficult to know what to do, and when. 4. Salesforce is a bit cheap: Salesforce, Slack's parent company, will wine-and-dine you for onboarding, which is nice! But that seems to be where it ends. After 3 months, there has been no mention of virtual team lunches or happy hours. On top of that, Salesforce is actively rolling back benefits they put in place during COVID, such as more permissive reimbursement for fitness. That is such an easy win for the company that I am aghast that they rolled it back. I'm sure they'll still throw a heck of a party for sales and clients though.

5.0
Excellent Place to Work
Backend Software Engineer III • Current Employee
Denver, CO
April 19, 2024
Pros: 1. Culture! I've been in many positions and interviews that talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Slack's culture is different. After only a month, my manager asked, "did you take time off between jobs? If not, find some time soon to take a few days away." 2. Public-Channel Culture: Kind of an extension of the above. Have you been at a company where asking questions in public channels was frowned upon? I have. But at Slack, you are highly encouraged to ask in public channels so others can search your answer in the future. I've had DMs with staff engineers who ask me to re-ask in a public channel so they can answer. 3. Developer Experience: Need to test a front end change? Backend change? Async message job? Cron job? It's all simple, and setup is less than a minute. Hands down the best development experience I've had.
Cons: 1. Documentation seems weak across the company. This encourages asking openly, which is nice, but sometimes I really want to start with a doc to get a basic understanding. 2. So many channels! Project channels, feature channels, development channels, escalation channels... This is a classic "pro and a con." It is incredibly overwhelming at first, and you really need to manage your time wisely. Speaking of which... 3. Be self-driven, or be behind: Slack more than other companies prefers self-driven, autonomous developers. Devs who prefer more structure to their everyday work may find it difficult to know what to do, and when. 4. Salesforce is a bit cheap: Salesforce, Slack's parent company, will wine-and-dine you for onboarding, which is nice! But that seems to be where it ends. After 3 months, there has been no mention of virtual team lunches or happy hours. On top of that, Salesforce is actively rolling back benefits they put in place during COVID, such as more permissive reimbursement for fitness. That is such an easy win for the company that I am aghast that they rolled it back. I'm sure they'll still throw a heck of a party for sales and clients though.

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