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Working at Netflix 2017

brendangregg.com

51–60 of 162 posts

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#51

Netflix has a 3.4 rating on Glassdoor. Yikes. I wouldn't consider working at a company unless it had 4 or more.

I actually brought this up in my interview, and asked extra questions because of it to be thorough. It's a really great company to work for, so I would say that Glassdoor's rating doesn't reflect what I've seen.

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#52
post #11

Netflix's culture deck is one of the most horrific things in the tech industry I've ever seen. It's so ruthlessly mercenary, I have a hard time understanding how why people put up with them.

I actually found the culture deck refreshing and attractive and a big part of why I joined Netflix. There's nothing ruthless about getting rid of people who aren't doing their jobs.

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#53
post #30

I'm pretty sure I've had few recruiters tell me, poaching from Netflix is almost impossible because of their ridiculously high salaries.

450k/yr cash for senior software engineers. No bonus, no RSUs, I think maybe 5% of that is in stock. Nothing else though, which would be fine by me.

Source? Glassdoor shows 200k

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Netflix-Senior-Software-Eng...

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#54
post #34

Answer me this: Why does the interface suck so bad? How are pissing off 100 million subscribers good business? I apologize for not expanding my view with a detailed analysis, but damn. The update you guys promoted like half a year in advance made it even worse.

Hulu did the same thing (with their Xbox app at least) recently and it really got me thinking. After a while I started to think maybe they aren't optimizing for what we might expect. By providing a UI that makes it slightly harder to find shows, displays as few shows at a time as possible and one that lures you into watching whatever is on the screen at the moment (even if just for a minute) they are effectively incr…

I never understood Hulu. 1) it costs money AND shows adverts. 2) owned by cable company 3) still can't get all the content owned by said cable company and 4) this horrific anecdote:

Was in the car with my fitness obsessed gf, she'd never heard of pizza rolls. I said "Tontinos pizza rolls" near the device (potentially googled it but I doubt it) on her iPhone 6. Hulu from the device when we got back from car ride. First advert, Tontinos...

Despicable.

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#55
This might be a bit off-topic but I heard that Netflix pays pretty well, even compared to other SV tech firms.

Why does the author only have a pretty small desk directly at a (what I assume) small recreational area? Is this considered a normal desk at a top SV tech firm? I'd probably go nuts after a few days because people are constantly passing by and are talking while I want to concentrate on work.

I'm from Germany where more and more companies try to implement the same open-office plans. Everybody I know that works in such an environment considers them as hostile to productivity. Somebody is constantly talking about useless stuff and disturbs others by that and using headphones is deemed as rude and anti-social.

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#56
post #49
post #30

I'm pretty sure I've had few recruiters tell me, poaching from Netflix is almost impossible because of their ridiculously high salaries.

When you factor in stocks, bonuses, healthcare and benefits the pay is same as in any other big N companies. Add family-friendliness, job stability to the list and you have much more than Netflix offers.

I would venture to say that our family-friendliness, stability, and benefits are on par (if not better) than other large companies.

Everyone takes whatever time off they need. There's no guilt associated - we always shun folks that check email and chat channels when they take vacation.

I personally appreciate cash directly in my pocket versus a gym, yoga rooms, and toys scattered about in the office.

I come to the office to work, not play. I don't need nor want the company buying things that don't help me get my work done effectively.

I also appreciate the sense of mobility in my career. I don't have to wait four+ years for stock options to vest. Four years is a very long time in any tech company. I also don't want my compensation tied to stock performance.

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

450k/yr cash for senior software engineers. No bonus, no RSUs, I think maybe 5% of that is in stock. Nothing else though, which would be fine by me.

Source? Glassdoor shows 200k https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Netflix-Senior-Software-Eng...

Glassdoor would be completely wrong.

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#59
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always thought that streaming services' main goal should be to be more convenient than digital piracy. That's when they win- when the service provides such a clear advantage over piracy that people are happy to pay money for it. At the moment, aside from ethical qualms, it is often more convenient for Linux, FF, and Chrome users to pirate Netflix's content. DRM, ironically, promotes piracy.

Also, Netflix's library is incredibly small compared to the amount of shows people actually watch. Netflix now blocks rooted Android devices. Netflix's originals are mostly terrible. So piracy vs $10/month for so much less is just painful. They don't allow anything more than 720p on chrome quite ironic considering the widevine deal. So yes, it seems Netflix is much more inconvenient than piracy.

Netflix's originals are mostly terrible.

http://fortune.com/2016/09/16/emmys-preview-netflix/

Re: Working at Netflix 2017

#60
post #4

Are they still proud of high turn-over rate and the "culture of fear"?

By "culture of fear," do you mean the way they stated their willingness to let anyone go if doing so better meets the company's needs than retaining them? That's just what all large companies do; they're just making it explicit.

As humans we do all sorts of things that it would be monstrous to state as explicit policy. Be careful with this justification.
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