Just Okay... - Senior Software Engineer BlackRock Employee Review

2.0
21 Dec 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* Great office at nice locations... though lack of places to eat nearby * Nice cafeteria - a bit on the expensive side, but I like it. * Good to have the company name on the resume

Cons

* Imense number of meetings - at BLK we just love them. Even meetings about meetings. It's hard to do any work. * I think they track everything you do. * "Unlimited vacation". But, I'm pretty sure if you allocate more than 3 weeks, you will either be laid off before even take it. :) I've seen it. * Legacy systems - pretty much everything on prem, with minimal cloud exposure. Everything engineered with either C or Java 8. * DEV environment is shared with thousands of employees and if one person messes up something, you can't do any work. The managers just shrugs off when you mention this, don't take any initatives to improve the working conditions. * Lot of politics - if you are not loud or not a good talker (or don't have a manager who stands by you), you'll be eaten by others. * I get impression they pretty much try to be like Goldman Sachs, but not very well. * The leadership is quite amusing - you can see guitars, rock & roll pictures in their office. But they are quite distant, they hardly say hi or trying to be friendly, or ignore you in the elevators even when you speak with them. * Every other day there are climate activists and protesters peacefully protesting in front of the building. You are prohibited to speak, talk or even take a flier from them. If you do, you risk being fired.

Explore other reviews about BlackRock

5.0
21 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great company to gain experience

Cons

Not many cons, large organization

3.0
22 Feb 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

1. The executive leaders in the firm are doing a great job 2. Many people in the firm genuinely have a sense of pride working there 3. The (base) compensation is compatible with the market; bonus, however, is another story. 4. For the first ten years of my career in the firm, I made some great memories and made some great friends.

Cons

The culture of my organization started to shift away from a sensible approach and career nurturing to a hostile and confrontational one around 2 years ago. In several all-hands meetings, we were chastised for being "too nice" and were made clear that things would change. The anonymous feedback in the meetings was cut short or eliminated entirely because it didn’t paint a positive picture. In the last 2 years, 1. I was often asked and expected to answer, "Now.. what can you do for me?" in my 1:1 with my latest manager. 2. I was reminded more than once that English is my second language 3. I was reminded more than once by the manager that I should not speak during the meetings I was invited to because they weren’t in the right timing or not appropriate to the subject being discussed during the time There were many of these examples in the last two years with the firm that just seemed inconceivable; nevertheless, I had a great ride and met some genuine people that I consider friends even today.

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