Block Software Developer reviews

3.4

45% would recommend to a friend

(250 total reviews)
avatar

Jack Dorsey

22% approve of CEO

18% positive business outlook

Software Developer employees have rated Block with 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 250 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Software Developer professionals have a good working experience there. Block is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Software Developer professionals compared to other employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

250 reviews
5.0
Oct 14, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- The work you do is challenging. Many times, the work you take on is something no one else has ever tackled. Whether you deploy a new service or close a new deal, the work that we do here is very rewarding, and many times there is enough visibility within the company where your work will be noticed by many. - It doesn't matter if you're a new employee, employee number 40, or an intern. Everyone has a chance to make a huge impact, and Square enables employees to do so. - The majority of co-workers are former Googlers, Facebookers, etc. They have many experiences and are willing to share their knowledge to anyone at Square. I can't imagine a better place to sharpen my engineering skills as a new grad in the industry. - The hiring bar is structured such that most of the people at Square are not only smart, but they are also personable and social. This makes a great working environment, and the company outings are something to look forward to. - Benefits are amazing (e.g. unlimited vacation, free meals).

Cons

- Deadlines for key projects are sometimes aggressive. - We are growing extremely fast.

5.0
Oct 14, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Square's growing tremendously as a team and a company. It's an exciting, dynamic place to work with tons of interesting problems to solve. The people are top notch and it's impossible not to learn while working with such talented people across many disciplines. The culture is super open, transparent and collaborative. It's really easy to reach across what would at other companies be barriers to get things done. The food is also amazing, which doesn't hurt!

Cons

The fast growth and dynamism can sometimes feel like churn. There's so much going on it's sometimes hard to keep track of all the projects that are being worked on.

4.0
Oct 14, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Everyone has a sense of ownership and is empowered to do what they need to do. Lots of room to change roles, move around, wear as many hats as you want. The stock will almost certainly be worth something. The company has a real purpose and is generally useful/applicable/liked by real people (unlike a lot of other companies you could be working for). Getting time off is as easy as chatting with your manager - typically no questions asked. The food program is amazing with very high-quality comped breakfast/lunch/dinner. Rapid growth translates to continuous learning opportunities and a work environment that never gets boring. As an engineer - the learning opportunities never end!

Cons

Any "cons" need to be prefaced with this: remember that Square is an extremely rapidly growing company that feels like a whole new workplace every 6 months. I've tried to only list the more consistent or recurring cons here, but all of them are consistently trending positively (or I wouldn't be working here anymore, really!). Any of these cons could be gone in a month or two, or replaced with new ones. There's just no way to know! That said: - Immature leadership has been an ongoing theme for my entire tenure. It's been a problem at every level of leadership from executive on down at some point or another. On the other hand - I think this is to be expected of a company this age and size, and is usually course-corrected eventually. - Immature HR (incl. compensation adjustment and talent review). First iterations of talent review were downright insulting: we were rated by shape (circle, square, or star) like kindergardeners. Luckily we acknowledged that was a horrible idea and have never done it again - but our cadence of performance feedback has remained random at best. Same goes for cadence of compensation adjustment. If you get a job here - NEGOTIATE UP FRONT - there's no telling how many months or years it might be until someone thinks to themselves "oh maybe we should look at comp again!". Note: this situation has already improved immensely with the introduction of a consistent engineering ranking/ladder system - if we manage to keep it more than a year, that is. - Rampant politics and personal agendas. To be expected at any growing company. We have them too. Nothing special to see here, move along. - Oncall policies. No overtime pay for brutalizing oncall shifts are the norm. No compensation for personal phone use either. Occasionally you'll get a "thank you" from someone. - Not enough bathrooms. Not kidding. Try and find a free stall or urinal sometime after lunch. Good luck!

Viewing 235 - 237 of 250 Reviews

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