Valve

Software Engineer Interview Experience - Bellevue, Washington

February 1, 2011

Positive ExperienceGot Offer

Process

The interview process was not easy to even qualify in the first place. In order for Valve to take someone, they look at your portfolio, which has to be quite impressive.

It really helps if you are well-known in the industry.

So, in suggesting how to get a job, first work on something, or as some of my colleagues have said, "just make something."

Questions

They asked me about the games that I have worked on.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 11 interview experiences for the Valve Software Engineer role in Bellevue, Washington.

Success Rate

9%

Pass Rate

Valve's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Bellevue, Washington is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive64%

Neutral18%

Negative18%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Valve's Software Engineer interview process in Bellevue, Washington.

Valve Work Experiences

Cool Company, Nothing Bad

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Pros: Cool company and cool stuff.

Cons: Nothing is a con here, you see.

Cool Company, Nothing Bad

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Pros: Cool company and cool stuff.

Cons: Nothing is a con here, you see.

Good for confident people

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

January 21, 2024

Pros: The best benefits around: * Total freedom * Amazing coworkers * High visibility projects

Cons: Paranoia Chaos Lack of cohesion You never really know if you're doing the right thing, because nobody can agree what that is. If you're stubborn, self-confident, and lucky, you'll do great.

Good for confident people

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

January 21, 2024

Pros: The best benefits around: * Total freedom * Amazing coworkers * High visibility projects

Cons: Paranoia Chaos Lack of cohesion You never really know if you're doing the right thing, because nobody can agree what that is. If you're stubborn, self-confident, and lucky, you'll do great.

Company is flush with cash but is chaotic and disorganized, refuses to "grow up"

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Pros: Great benefits, and yearly bonuses can equal or exceed your salary. This company is at the nexus of the PC game business, so your work can have a big impact if you carefully choose the right project and people to work with.

Cons: Placing any bets on a long-term career at this random and cliquish company is probably as wise as betting all your life savings on a single spin of a roulette wheel in Vegas. At this point, Valve has devolved into a place you work at to pad your resume and make some bonus cash. Be prepared to be let down once you're inside. The basic idea of Valve works well with small (30-50 person) companies, but utterly fails to scale to a company with hundreds of people. The board and their closest friends have become extremely wealthy, so they have very little incentive to fix the company. This organization has a purposely opaque, hierarchical, secretive, and very rigid management structure. Many of the board of directors and their friends are utterly capricious and conceited. The longer an employee is at Valve, the more they singularly focus on protecting their yearly bonuses, and the less they care about basically everything else. Some projects can go on literally for 5+ years, wandering around pointlessly without shipping, with little to no direction and no accountability. This company is terrible at writing and shipping large-scale software and sneers at words like "software engineering," "architecture," and "testing." The random mass firings of 2013 tanked morale, and the stream of talent leaving the company during 2014 didn't help. The yearly review process lacks feedback, transparency, and coverage. This company has no formal HR, so good luck if you need to give genuine feedback about troublesome coworkers.

Company is flush with cash but is chaotic and disorganized, refuses to "grow up"

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Pros: Great benefits, and yearly bonuses can equal or exceed your salary. This company is at the nexus of the PC game business, so your work can have a big impact if you carefully choose the right project and people to work with.

Cons: Placing any bets on a long-term career at this random and cliquish company is probably as wise as betting all your life savings on a single spin of a roulette wheel in Vegas. At this point, Valve has devolved into a place you work at to pad your resume and make some bonus cash. Be prepared to be let down once you're inside. The basic idea of Valve works well with small (30-50 person) companies, but utterly fails to scale to a company with hundreds of people. The board and their closest friends have become extremely wealthy, so they have very little incentive to fix the company. This organization has a purposely opaque, hierarchical, secretive, and very rigid management structure. Many of the board of directors and their friends are utterly capricious and conceited. The longer an employee is at Valve, the more they singularly focus on protecting their yearly bonuses, and the less they care about basically everything else. Some projects can go on literally for 5+ years, wandering around pointlessly without shipping, with little to no direction and no accountability. This company is terrible at writing and shipping large-scale software and sneers at words like "software engineering," "architecture," and "testing." The random mass firings of 2013 tanked morale, and the stream of talent leaving the company during 2014 didn't help. The yearly review process lacks feedback, transparency, and coverage. This company has no formal HR, so good luck if you need to give genuine feedback about troublesome coworkers.

Cool Company, Nothing Bad

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Pros: Cool company and cool stuff.

Cons: Nothing is a con here, you see.

5.0
Cool Company, Nothing Bad
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Bellevue, Washington, United States
July 30, 2020
Pros: Cool company and cool stuff.
Cons: Nothing is a con here, you see.

Good for confident people

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

January 21, 2024

Pros: The best benefits around: * Total freedom * Amazing coworkers * High visibility projects

Cons: Paranoia Chaos Lack of cohesion You never really know if you're doing the right thing, because nobody can agree what that is. If you're stubborn, self-confident, and lucky, you'll do great.

4.0
Good for confident people
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Bellevue, Washington, United States
January 21, 2024
Pros: The best benefits around: * Total freedom * Amazing coworkers * High visibility projects
Cons: Paranoia Chaos Lack of cohesion You never really know if you're doing the right thing, because nobody can agree what that is. If you're stubborn, self-confident, and lucky, you'll do great.

Company is flush with cash but is chaotic and disorganized, refuses to "grow up"

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Bellevue, Washington, United States

Pros: Great benefits, and yearly bonuses can equal or exceed your salary. This company is at the nexus of the PC game business, so your work can have a big impact if you carefully choose the right project and people to work with.

Cons: Placing any bets on a long-term career at this random and cliquish company is probably as wise as betting all your life savings on a single spin of a roulette wheel in Vegas. At this point, Valve has devolved into a place you work at to pad your resume and make some bonus cash. Be prepared to be let down once you're inside. The basic idea of Valve works well with small (30-50 person) companies, but utterly fails to scale to a company with hundreds of people. The board and their closest friends have become extremely wealthy, so they have very little incentive to fix the company. This organization has a purposely opaque, hierarchical, secretive, and very rigid management structure. Many of the board of directors and their friends are utterly capricious and conceited. The longer an employee is at Valve, the more they singularly focus on protecting their yearly bonuses, and the less they care about basically everything else. Some projects can go on literally for 5+ years, wandering around pointlessly without shipping, with little to no direction and no accountability. This company is terrible at writing and shipping large-scale software and sneers at words like "software engineering," "architecture," and "testing." The random mass firings of 2013 tanked morale, and the stream of talent leaving the company during 2014 didn't help. The yearly review process lacks feedback, transparency, and coverage. This company has no formal HR, so good luck if you need to give genuine feedback about troublesome coworkers.

1.0
Company is flush with cash but is chaotic and disorganized, refuses to "grow up"
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Bellevue, Washington, United States
March 5, 2015
Pros: Great benefits, and yearly bonuses can equal or exceed your salary. This company is at the nexus of the PC game business, so your work can have a big impact if you carefully choose the right project and people to work with.
Cons: Placing any bets on a long-term career at this random and cliquish company is probably as wise as betting all your life savings on a single spin of a roulette wheel in Vegas. At this point, Valve has devolved into a place you work at to pad your resume and make some bonus cash. Be prepared to be let down once you're inside. The basic idea of Valve works well with small (30-50 person) companies, but utterly fails to scale to a company with hundreds of people. The board and their closest friends have become extremely wealthy, so they have very little incentive to fix the company. This organization has a purposely opaque, hierarchical, secretive, and very rigid management structure. Many of the board of directors and their friends are utterly capricious and conceited. The longer an employee is at Valve, the more they singularly focus on protecting their yearly bonuses, and the less they care about basically everything else. Some projects can go on literally for 5+ years, wandering around pointlessly without shipping, with little to no direction and no accountability. This company is terrible at writing and shipping large-scale software and sneers at words like "software engineering," "architecture," and "testing." The random mass firings of 2013 tanked morale, and the stream of talent leaving the company during 2014 didn't help. The yearly review process lacks feedback, transparency, and coverage. This company has no formal HR, so good luck if you need to give genuine feedback about troublesome coworkers.

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