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Fast Pace, Toxic Culture

Software Engineer
Former Employee
Worked at Snap for 2 years
April 25, 2017
San Francisco, California
1.0
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

Able to work at a fairly rapid pace, though this came at the cost of not writing tests and peer reviews consisted of people just scanning the code. Compensation is fair considering the market.

Cons

Work/life balance: We are regularly reminded that we're expected to come back online to work after dinner. God help you if your Hipchat dot isn't green. Weekends and working into the morning are a regular thing.

Culture: It's said that a company's true culture is defined by those they reward and promote, as opposed to what they tout. And it's evident that Snap values managers who bully and intimidate to motivate their team and robots that blindly follow.

Feedback system: Snap has no concept of reviews for peers or for management, so they stay oblivious to problems (perhaps willingly).

Code quality: Peer reviews generally consist of someone scanning the code, not running it. No tests are written. This results in bugs slipping through to production apps.

Unfortunately, these issues seem to come from the top down; they are rooted deeply in the culture of Snap. Leaving Snap was like finally leaving an abusive relationship.

Advice to Management

Implement upwards and 360 reviews. Don't stay blind to bullying from your management team, or you will continue to hemorrhage talent.

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