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The Empire Strikes Back

Software Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at Tableau for 1 year
May 2, 2016
Seattle, Washington
2.0
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookNo CEO Opinion
Pros
  1. Market-leading product. Tableau is the Rolls-Royce of data visualization tools.
  2. Great health insurance.
  3. Passionate customer base.
  4. Some wonderful colleagues.
  5. Awesome Fremont location, and the Kirkland location is great for East Side folks.
Cons

TL;DR version:

Just like all other companies, your experience will depend heavily on your manager and department. You know the saying "people join companies but leave managers," right?

Who should join Tableau?

  1. Software engineers: Notice almost all reviews by them are positive? You will work with SMART people and learn a ton. The pay isn't bad either. Good to have Tableau on your resume, too.
  2. Interns: It will add cred to your resume and is awesome if you could land a job after graduation. I heard the pay is ~$35/hr? Not bad at all.
  3. Young college grads: All the Red Bulls and chips you can have, video games, Ping-Pong and foosball tables, amazing parties, and Tableau on your resume. What more could you ask for? Be prepared to be low-paid, though. Unless you are in software engineering, your pay will be below industry average. Hey, but that's okay! You are young and don't have a mortgage or other heavy responsibilities to worry about. In your early career, you should focus on opportunities and learning.
  4. People changing careers to the software/technology industry: Come on over and join this fun ride. Be prepared for low pay, but that's the price you pay. Only you know if the tradeoff is worth it.
  5. If you are from MSFT, AMZN, and other competitive places: You should be salivating, as original Tableau hires are just sheep waiting for you to slaughter them. Come here and dominate, push them around or out; they don't stand a chance with their "niceness."

Who shouldn't work for Tableau?

Well, pretty much anyone else? People older than 35? There's subtle age discrimination here, as you will not get ahead. I'm not sure if this is isolated to Tableau or the tech industry in general. Again, the pay is low unless you are in software engineering.

Long Version

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away called Redmond, there existed an evil empire called MSFT, which dominates the software industry. To make a long story short, MSFT is enemy #1, as their competing product, PowerBI (free or $9.99/person), is quickly closing the gap on Tableau ($2000/seat). AMZN also has a competing product, and we all know whatever industry they enter, they absolutely DESTROY. Not to mention Salesforce, the #1 cloud enterprise software company, and other smaller, hungrier, and nimbler competitors have a target on Tableau's back. The point is, the party's over; it will be an uphill battle for Tableau to stay relevant with such fearsome competition.

Other observations:

  1. The culture has been diluted. Bad hires from MSFT, AMZN, ORCL, etc., have ruined Tableau's startup culture. Warring factions, politics, fiefdom building, competitiveness—you name it—have created a miasma of a demoralizing atmosphere.
  2. Low pay for workers other than engineers. Someone said it in a previous review: "In the end, we all pay for the parties and free Coke/chips in the form of low salary."
  3. Don't put too much weight into the stocked kitchen. It's empty by Wednesday, as these poor young kids raid the fridge for three meals a day. Who could blame them, though? Seattle is an expensive town to live in, and they are underpaid. I know a few who have two jobs just to keep their heads above water.
  4. Performance review process is immature. It serves minimal purpose, as it's more of a one-way, predetermined process than a dialogue.
  5. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians: It's shocking how many layers of management exist in a company of roughly 3000 people. Some departments have workers > team leads > managers > senior managers > directors > senior directors > VPs > senior VPs. A typical worker could be 10+ layers removed from the CEO.
  6. Did I mention low pay?
  7. Parking situation is atrocious. Garages are full, and street parking is hard to come by.
Advice to Management

None, as I believe management is the problem. Only the founders can save the company, if they have any will left in them to fight and make broad, sweeping changes.

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