Pros: I worked at Yelp for several years and will always miss the people. Yelp felt very family-like: friendly and open-minded folks with good communication throughout. These are folks you would want to hang out with on the weekends, like BFFs. In fact, I might be spoiled by them; I now expect the same kind of warmth and friendliness from future employers and colleagues. Good supply of snacks and drinks. The current office (140 New Montgomery) is beautifully done, though might be a little too spread-out for some areas. Average compensation, though the benefits (401k, health insurance) are pretty average. From the engineering side, the codebase is so old and badly written in many places that, depending on what team you're on and the kind of challenges you fancy, this can be a godsend (you love fixing things) or a curse (you love new stuff). I might have a long list of cons below, but I still would recommend Yelp.

Cons: I feel like Yelp may be over-reaching on its core values. They have a vision, for sure, but it's a very broad vision and not very focused. The higher-ups tend to wear rose-colored glasses when discussing company statistics. I wish they were a little more humble and frank. Also, at times the company seems risk-averse. Expanding to other countries: no problem. Delivering a better user experience: jump through bureaucratic hurdles. Certain projects can take years of planning and back-and-forth because they really don't want to lose users or revenue, however small that may be, and/or managers keep leaving. Innovation takes a backseat. Previously, I mentioned the codebase. It's so ugly that implementing innovative features is an absolute chore. Deploying code is done serially through a person rather than an automated parallel system, which became a huge bottleneck when the engineering department grew astronomically in the past couple of years. Lastly, growth. The company is growing fast, and not really in a good way. I can only speak for the engineering department, and it grew a lot during my time there. Unfortunately, the industry-experts:new-grads ratio is very low. As a result, you'll get one-year Yelp employees mentoring new hires, and sometimes, a one-year employee ends up as manager. Not that that employee doesn't deserve it, but there are still two- and three-year folks around, and they get passed over.

Pros: Very fun company to work for. There's a great atmosphere amongst the employees, engineering and sales both. I really enjoy everyone I've met so far. Pay is also very competitive, and Yelp also offered stock options, something that has more than tripled in value over the past year.

Cons: I'm hard-pressed to really think of anything as an engineer at Yelp, but if I had to say, it'd be that the company still acts like a startup. Personally, I enjoy that aspect. We move quick, and that can cause problems from time to time. Nothing too difficult to navigate, though.

Pros: OUTSTANDING work/life balance. The most important thing is that you get your work done, and so the hours don't really matter (as long as you're there during the core business hours of 10-4pm). Each team is different, but the two teams that I've been on both operated the same way. People came in, worked hard for the 8 hours that they were there, and went home at a reasonable hour, including taking lunch/coffee/chit chat breaks. Timings are very flexible, and management is always understanding of those times when you need to work from home. Incredible culture – they treat their employees so well. From free snacks/drinks on every floor, to free catered food/beer every Friday, to free and delicious coffee/cold brew daily from our talented baristas, to free deli sandwiches/bagels/pb&j sandwiches. I could keep going, but you get the idea. Being in the industry that Yelp is in, there's plenty of free and delicious food, as expected. Or just walk a few blocks away to dozens and dozens of fun and interesting restaurants because Yelp is in the middle of everything! Fun events every quarter, such as hackathons, team outings, and holiday events. They really do a great job of making sure employees are rewarded and feel appreciated. Amazing co-workers – as I said, I worked on 2 different teams so far, and everyone has been super helpful and accommodating. People will take the time out of their day to help and make sure you're past the hurdle – an incredibly collaborative environment. Relevant/cutting edge technology – getting the chance/freedom to work on interfaces using tools that are industry-leading is an incredible opportunity! I'm learning so much!! Great compensation/Benefits – salary is very competitive, and the stock package is even better than I had hoped for, so not much negotiation was needed. Plus, the benefits are very solid. This includes any equipment that you might need at work – it's all covered (with manager approval). Also, full health coverage! For all these reasons, Yelp has been the BEST company I have ever worked for. I absolutely love coming into work every day; I look forward to it :D Flat organization – there are no politics, no power struggles, no meaningless titles. The work and the timely delivery of a quality product is the most important thing.

Cons: Literally the only con I could come up with is the need for a better 401k match.