Mission driven company with lot of talent - Senior Software Engineering Manager Handshake Employee Review

5.0
27 Nov 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Handshake operates with a strong sense of mission, and the entire team is genuinely dedicated to its pursuit. Within the engineering organization, the talent pool is notably high, featuring numerous subject matter experts who contribute to a dynamic learning environment for junior and mid-level engineers. The company culture fosters creativity, empowering individuals to propose and work on impactful product ideas, with high performance duly recognized. Our leadership team, largely comprising professionals from FAANG companies, adds a valuable dimension to the organization. Moreover, the company highly invests in and values Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), further enriching our collaborative and inclusive workplace. My experience at Handshake has been fulfilling, and each day presents an opportunity for meaningful contributions and professional growth.

Cons

The work environment is dynamic and fast-paced, often necessitating the ability to assume various roles such as engineer, product manager, designer, and user researcher. While this may be perceived as challenging by some, for others, it represents a valuable learning opportunity and a chance to accelerate career growth.

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Handshake Response
2y
Thank you very much for this thoughtful review! We’re so proud of our mission to democratize access for early talent, and believe that we have the best team in place to be able to succeed in that effort. We also recognize that this is incredibly hard work, and that we ask our employees to be flexible and to occasionally wear multiple hats. We strive to keep these expectations reasonable (and we also think of them as being growth opportunities!), but we acknowledge that we may not always do so perfectly. We’re so glad you’re on the team, and hope that you’ll keep the feedback coming!

Explore other reviews about Handshake

5.0
12 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Work at your own pace.

Cons

Task limit when new to project.

1.0
22 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Challenging, interesting position in the short term.

Cons

The company has implemented a new timer policy that has “active” and “inactive” time on the backend that makes up for the total time. We were getting paid by total time (as you should), but HAI has changed it to only pay contributors for the time marked “active.” Time is “active” when scrolling, typing, and clicking within the specific task tab. Time is “inactive” when none of the previous actions are happening; i.e., when reading the task without moving the mouse or pressing keys, researching in another tab, etc. It sounds like they have changed the rules to only pay for active time, which has caused huge pay discrepancies. The percentage of inactive time is usually way more than active time on these timers due to the amount of reading, visual analyzing, thinking, and research required for some tasks. This behavior is unacceptable because time that seems “inactive” is still important to the quality and completion of tasks. They keep throwing accusations like “time thieves” around to justify it. If you respect yourself, pack it up and go somewhere else. I know most people who work at these places are desperate for income, but that’s exactly what they’re hoping for. They’re hoping you will be desperate enough to be taken advantage of.

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