Software Engineer • Current Employee
Pros: TripAdvisor's first goal in hiring is to hire the person that fits best, so everyone you are working with is great at what they do, and everyone gets along.
Catered lunches 3 times a week, a game room with foosball, Xbox, Rock Band, and Wii make for a fun environment.
Drinks, snacks, and comfortable open collaboration areas make for a relaxing environment.
Put that together with a relaxed approach to schedules, and you have a stress-free work environment.
TripAdvisor maintains its nimbleness regardless of how many employees it has, so there is always something new. It is a job you will want to come back to every day.
Cons: The motto is "speed wins", which means something new every week, even every day. While that makes the job interesting, it also makes it a little confusing and hard to keep the various projects you're working on straight.
The company has been growing rapidly, despite waiting for the "perfect candidate" for each position and not rushing the hiring.
As such, they suffer a bit from the unavoidable growing pains, as any company would. In some respects, things still feel like a small company, but those clash with some of the unavoidable aspects of a large company. Everyone is devoted to easing this as much as possible, but it just takes time.