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Worked for Palantir from 2010-2012. Palantir will push you hard (if you let it, and are interested in doing so); it's the highest-performing team I've ever work
by ath0 12y ago
Worked for Palantir from 2010-2012. Palantir will push you hard (if you let it, and are interested in doing so); it's the highest-performing team I've ever worked with, and I learned a ton both technically and culturally (how to interview, how to hire, how to productively have high expectations of your colleagues) that has served me well in the other roles -- even though it wasn't immediately obvious what I was learning when I was there.
That said, there's a lot that's rough about the place, especially as it's gotten larger. You'll likely have a little more freedom than at Facebook, but I wouldn't expect to have a significant impact on the product -- though you will absolutely see an impact on a smaller number of enterprise customers. The culture can be a little overwhelming; it's hard to get oriented as a new person. You need to take responsibility for learning things for yourself and have to think on your feet -- don't expect your colleagues to spend a lot of time training you.
- atmosx 12y agoThe way you describe palantir seems like the going to the military or something, without the added value of making lifetime friends. Sounds good for short term, bad for long term.
- jk4930 12y agoWould you elaborate on the "how to" aspects of the cultural part?
- ath0 12y agoThere are certain cultural imperatives; catchphrases that get repeated. Like Facebook's "move fast and break things." That's an interesting statement in and of itself, but what's more interesting is watching how people interpret that imperative and get things done. Don't want to go into too many examples, but let's take the "we maintain an incredibly high hiring bar, because good people want to work with good people." Everyone says that; how do you actually execute on that in practice? What interview practices work? One well-known public thing you can see from reading Glassdoor interviews is that the founders try to interview every candidate. One of the most memorable things about my time there is that even the guy who was hired to stock the kitchen went through an intense interview process; which seems like overkill until you meet him and realize the depth of pride, customer service and creativity he brings to his job is every bit as strong as the engineers we hire. Not everyone who says "we maintain a high hiring bar" would go through that kind of effort. (P.S. re: the above "lifelong friends" comment as well - that guy, who I am still friends with, continues to post photos of particularly well-executed Palantir meals to private social media. So while I respect the feeling that 'it sounds like the military' -- like the military, I'd say it's hard work in the short term, occasionally nonsensical, but for people who are willing to do it it's very much a long-term positive experience.)
- jk4930 12y agoThanks. So it's a mix of self-discipline, holding oneself to high standards, going the extra mile. And--I assume--trusting that others do the same.