Splunk reviews

Management is clueless about actually people management. Talking and grandstanding is valued over actually getting things done. Every meeting is a chance for people to put on a show and play politics. A typical meeting is about 3+ managers/directors talking about what work needs to be done and one (if lucky two) engineer who will actually do the work. Politics at the manager level is brutal where everyone is fighting for headcount, and managers try to quietly poach top performers (even though they aren't supposed to). Teams dislike each other and think they are the only ones overworked while everyone else is lazy/incompetent. Executives are dishonest about what is going. They claim they want to attract world class talent yet average compensation has been going down year after year. They claim Splunk is an engineering/products company, but look at the actual investments (public financial statements) in R&D/engineering vs. sales/marketing. They claim we are doing well and finances are great, yet perks and amenities are going away (reduction in health insurance benefits, can't even order enough food on free lunch Mondays for everyone, soda machines broken for months, minimum years required for new laptops increasing). The executives don't care at all about the engineers. To executives, engineers are just a bunch of replaceable geeks, cogs in the machine. The best description of this place and its culture is Microsoft under Steve Ballmer.

The organization has many growing pains. Be careful that your role is in an appropriate group, and be willing to be very assertive about getting what you need to succeed. Be aware of the dynamics between people in your group when you interview. Ask where your career might lead. Be sure your role is a fit for your group unless you are a totally introverted person who needs no interactions with others to succeed. Also--the hiring process is long and discouraging. This does not mean you won't get the job. There is getting to be that Darren /Larry Tate dynamic at the mid-level, which is totally unnecessary in this company. Godfrey clearly doesn't want that silliness but it's there. Even though Godfrey clearly picks women for high management roles in tech, this trend does not seem to trickle down to lower levels. It's way better than many companies but still -same old zillions of male SE's and engineers and programmers --who are welcoming--but profoundly over represented-- and zillions of women in HR & marketing & writing--with most of the management jobs in these roles going to men even though the worker bees are primarily women-filled. Come on folks, let's hire some women engineers and promote more women in marketing, marcom, tech writing, etc. They are better than most. But unconscious sexism is still there. They do hire lots of brilliant women interns though. Which is a start.