Pinterest Reviews
Updated Oct 13, 2019
"Work life balance is very respected--my team management pushes us to take at least four weeks a year off" (in 32 reviews)
"Nice office, great location, free food" (in 11 reviews)
"It's grown quickly in the past few years, and growing pains are inevitable" (in 17 reviews)
"The company is growing now and isn't as small as it was during my internship" (in 12 reviews)
- Helpful (5)
"Comfortable but slow"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsNeutral OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Pinterest full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
- 3 meals a day - nice people - very good work life balance - decent perks - good exposure to a variety of projects - safe comfortable work projects because we are playing catch up
Cons
- nobody takes up ownership outside of their OKRs - everybody plays it safe, no risk-taking - everything moves super slow - not my responsibility so i don't care attitude - too many people taking PTO, 3/10 OOO email responses - no mobility, too many external hires for middle management who don't really serve any purpose - pay is suppressed
Advice to Management
- seriously consider setting more accountability for people - remove underperforming folks - be more aggressive and act like a true under dog, culture is way too beta and nice
Pinterest2019-09-23 - Helpful (2)
"Kind of a hot mess"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Pinterest full-time for more than a year
Pros
In theory a very sellable product. Actually really compelling insights about what people are into personally vs the face they put out into the world. Strong hire with Andrea Mallard at CMO.
Cons
1. Compelling narrative but does not play out in reality for most advertisers, making it actually a hard product to sell. 2. Stagnating growth in US and lack of male audience requires a decent amount of spinning 3. Sales leadership is all over the place, they solve missing revenue goals by endless reorgs, which is leading to mass attrition of sales people. They are highly distractable by the latest big “deal” and... fail do not have a solid plan in place to diversify revenue or focus on the big picture. 4. As a seller, it’s feast or famine. Revenue targets are often irrational leading often based on ambition rather than reality to a demotivated sales force. Compared to competitors, I would say this is one of the worst companies to work for if you like compensation stability. Pinterest is young, but not so young that they should have this much trouble setting realistic goals.
Show MoreAdvice to Management
Clean house on sales leadership. With a majority female sales force, it’s a shame that much of the senior sales team is male, the imbalance leads to poor optics and awkward conversations. Consider hiring people from companies other than Google. Hire some actual people managers for a change and not just people who like to hear themselves talk. Francoise needs to spend more time with sellers and customers to see the... disconnect between our product and the market needs.
Show MorePinterest2019-10-13 - Helpful (3)
"Pinterest has lost it's way"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookNo opinion of CEOI worked at Pinterest full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
Great benefits Most people are genuinely nice
Cons
No standard of excellence Poor behavior isn't curtailed or checked Excessively political for the size of the company Passive aggressive Entitled employees Poor corporate communication
Advice to Management
- Ben should fire the majority of his execs, their direct reports (a.k.a. dead weight), bring back the Pin-puns, and reinforce the original culture of Pinterest. - Execs and their directs don't uphold the corporate culture themselves much less to to their teams making the cultural values more of a punchline than an actual culture. - Bad behavior and entitlement should not be tolerated (but are completely). In... what other company is it acceptable for employees complain because there was a meatless Monday and they're entitled to a free hot meat entree, complain directly to the SF Health department because a handful of people got sick after a free dinner, and lets not forget the supposed whistle blower who doxxed other employees. Then there are those who complain about their blackout period, because despite all of the literature pushed at them they don't understand why they have a stock blackout period. - Work life is great because getting things done is no longer the order of the day unless you work on Evan or Lawrence's teams. - Good luck finding a supportive manager at Pinterest, most supportive managers have left because they didn't get any support from directs or their own managers (a.k.a. dead weight). - Most people that have been there 5-8 years are probably not doing their jobs anymore (if they ever did them in the first place) - With few exceptions the TPM team should be fired - almost an entire team of deadweight
Show MorePinterest2019-10-08 - Helpful (3)
"Working at Pinterest is team-by-team"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Pinterest full-time for more than a year
Pros
* Some great teams with awesome culture * Fun workplace events * Great work-life balance, if you want it
Cons
* Some teams are clique-y * Some teams are under a lot more pressure than others * lotta lotta politics to deal with
Pinterest2019-08-05 "Poor Middle Management"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Pinterest full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
Amazing culture, lots of smart people to learn from
Cons
Growing pains... like any other start-up
Pinterest2019-08-14Pinterest Response
August 20, 2019 – People Team
Thank you for your feedback! We pride ourselves on our amazing people and culture, I'm encouraged that you are experiencing them. We've grown a lot but hopefully any growing pains that you experience with smooth out with time and attention. I've noted your feedback on middle management, and will investigate further. If you're comfortable, there is an anonymous hotline to give more feedback directly: (844) 704-6249. Jo, CHRO
Show Less"Amazing work community"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsNeutral OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Pinterest full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
Great work environment. Everyone at Pinterest is willing to help you solve problems, even if they aren't directly aligned with their own. True care for Pinners and providing the best experience possible.
Cons
Need better promotion track and recognition.
Pinterest2019-07-16Pinterest Response
August 20, 2019 – People Team
The Pinterest community is a special one and I hope all employees find it as rewarding as you do. I also really value how helpful our colleagues are, it’s one of my favorite things about Pinterest. We have taken your feedback on promotion track and recognition programs into consideration, so stay tuned and keep on helping make Pinterest a great place to work! Jo, CHRO
Show Less- Helpful (1)
"Overall a great place to work"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Pinterest full-time for less than a year
Pros
Company culture is pretty relaxed. Work hours are very reasonable. Almost nobody has to work at night. Great benefits. Lots of fun activities outside of work.
Cons
Some teams are not as mature as other teams when it comes to process and technology. Some managers do not have clear vision and strategy of where they want to take their teams.
Advice to Management
My management team is good but I feel some management teams need to provide clearer vision and strategy for their team and stop changing priority so frequently.
Pinterest2019-07-04Pinterest Response
August 20, 2019 – People Team
I'm glad you're getting the work/life balance that we pride ourselves on and enjoying our benefits! Thank you for your feedback about management, we have placed a renewed emphasis on leadership development in recent months and will see this work threaded throughout the company. Jo, CHRO
Show Less - Helpful (2)
"Great Company, Still Experiencing Growing Pains"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Pinterest full-time for more than a year
Pros
Pinterest does a few things exceptionally. They develop their people incredibly well, I feel as though I've learned more in 18 months than in my entire previous career. The truly care about their employees, they emphasize work-life balance and allow for people to have lives outside work. They also truly care about their users, making a product that is focused actually improving peoples lives.
Cons
There are definitely growing pains with a company that's experienced rapid growth. Sometimes feels like upper-level executives don't understand that Pinterest generates revenue by selling ads. Also noticed some people moving up in the company because of their relationships with people rather than there ability or potential to do their job well.
Advice to Management
Understand how the whole business operates and figure out how to balance users and advertisers to continue to grow revenue. Focus on peoples actual performance in their job to get promotions.
Pinterest2019-06-16Pinterest Response
August 20, 2019 – People Team
Thank you for your feedback. I’m happy to hear that you’re learning and developing in your career, and that you feel inspired by how much Pinployees believe in the mission. We’ve taken your words into consideration and will watch for the concerns that you voiced. Stay working hard and keeping Pinterest accountable! Jo, CHRO
Show Less - Helpful (1)
"partner manager"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsNeutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Pinterest full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
good vibe and company culture
Cons
not great work-life balance in general
Pinterest2019-06-29 "Really welcoming environment"
StarStarStarStarStarI have been working at Pinterest
Pros
People are really nice, lots of great perks, love the product
Cons
Not any big ones- small office so you don’t get access to some social aspects of being at a big company, and you have to find street parking- otherwise it’s great
Pinterest2019-06-16Pinterest Response
August 20, 2019 – People Team
Great coworkers are such an important part of a positive work experience, I'm happy to hear that you're surrounded by great ones. Parking can definitely be hard in SOMA but don't forget to enter in to the quarterly parking lottery or utilize some of our other alternative transportation benefits! Jo, CHRO
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Pinterest Response
August 20, 2019 – People Team
I’m sorry to hear about your negative experiences, although glad to hear that you appreciate Pinterest’s culture and work/life balance. Pinterest has had a busy and exciting year, but we need to make sure that the core of what makes Pinterest great — helpful and kind people, open culture, and passion for our users — doesn’t fade. We’ll take your feedback into consideration, thank you for sharing it. Jo, CHRO
Show Less