It is a disservice to give anything less than 5 stars.
Pros
To start, I should first mention that I have never written a Glassdoor review for any company I have worked for, but I had to make an exception - you'll see why. Before I begin my review, I should first give some background about how I landed at LinkedIn. I quit my previous job out of sheer disgust of how poorly run an organization it was. It was a company that had leadership with poor transparency, an antiquated product, and a poor career growth outlook. As I was considering my next step, I found that I had two job offers at the same time: One from LinkedIn and another from a startup. I spent hours and hours going through Glassdoor reviews of LinkedIn, weighing the pros and cons of joining a large company vs a smaller company. At first, I was leaning heavily towards the startup- it's the dream isn't it?? You get in when it is a small size, get promoted more quickly as the company grows and cash out big. That's the dream at least. Although I plan on joining a startup one day, most of my friends who are currently working at a startup will tell you that the reality is that most startup careers don't follow that journey, for one reason or another. As I approach my one-year mark at LinkedIn I look back at my decision to join LinkedIn as the single greatest decision I have ever made in my entire professional career. Period. Why? Let's start with culture. This is a company that has, despite its large growth in headcount over the last few years, SOMEHOW managed to maintain an extremely positive, friendly, energetic, and downright FUN culture that is BETTER than most startups. It goes SO strongly against the stigma of a mundane, lifeless, corporate vibe that I always incorrectly assumed engulfed companies as they get larger. Boy was I wrong there... End of quarter is literally amazing. I closed a deal, spun a wheel, and won my entire team a round of mimosas. On my way back to my desk I passed a cart with people handing out food and blasting celebratory music. Second and most importantly: When you join a startup, your growth is limited, for the most part, to the effectiveness and competency of the one VP/manager you work for. When you speak with LinkedIn employees, you will constantly hear talk about how incredibly high-caliber and intelligent every employee and manager is that works there. LinkedIn is selective. And the sales managers at LinkedIn are legitimately some of the best sales minds on the planet. More time-tested managers, combined with world-class peer talent means one thing: more readily available collaboration to bolster your personal and professional growth. Third: Perks. The treatment I receive makes me feel like royalty. I get a freshly catered, free breakfast every day, a freshly catered free lunch every day, an in-house barista who makes me an amazing latte every day, and a kitchen stocked with literally everything. Oh and I forgot - FREE health insurance. Yup. FREE. In addition, $2,000 EVERY YEAR of flex dollars you can spend towards wellness (gym memberships, personal trainer). LinkedIn always has your back and has you covered... And I can also tell you that when you get treated like a serious professional, you start working more and more like a serious professional. I can go on about the perks, but I think you get the idea. Fourth: Best-in-class leadership. Witnessing this has been such a relieving contrast to the poor leadership I experienced in my previous company. Leadership does everything right. If there is a new policy they make and they hear negative feedback, they make adjustments and do so transparently. When things are going well revenue-wise, they use it effectively to boost morale. If there is a stretch of things not going well revenue-wise, they remain positive, they remain professional, and they always succeed in helping us keep the bigger picture in mind. At the end of the day this is a company that does everything right. Their attention to achieving excellence in every last detail of every part of the business, from culture to operations to coaching to feedback loops to employee recognition - is unparalleled to anything I have ever seen. Shame on anyone giving LinkedIn less than 5 stars.
Cons
My biggest hesitation in joining a larger company was stagnated career growth. I was worried it would take me years and years and years to get promoted compared to a startup. Biggest irony, fast forwarding one year, is that I could care less. Why? Because of all the reasons outlined above, I am so focused on being better at my current role and continuing to grow, my title is the last thing on my mind. I'm not seeking a promotion because after being exposed to so many talented reps, I realize that I'm not ready! And that's fine. Makes me wonder how many unqualified people in startups get promoted even when they have gaps in their selling abilities, and then teach newer, impressionable reps suboptimal ways of selling as a result... In approaching my one year mark, I have not been promoted, but I haven't viewed that as a con. Longer promotion time is what you sign up for when you join any larger company, but what is considered a "con" to some people, doesn't really matter to me.
