Is Two Sigma still a top company for engineers?
It's no question that Two Sigma pays engineers as much as Google and Facebook. There have also been a few anecdotes in the past that its culture and general treatment of employees is excellent and quite similar to Google's. However, Glassdoor seems to tell a different story, especially recently, with reviews like these: https://www.glassdoor.ca/Reviews/Employee-Review-Two-Sigma-RVW25885087.htm https://www.glassdoor.ca/Reviews/Employee-Review-Two-Sigma-RVW25260710.htm Some key points in recent reviews include: the culture being taken over by ex Goldman Sachs employees, WLB becoming worse, cost-cutting, poor management, constant reorgs, and lot's of politics. Two Sigma's overall Glassdoor rating is also a 3.6 which seems low compared to other highly desired companies such as Google (4.4), Facebook (4.3), LinkedIn (4.3), Jane Street (4.6). In fact, even Amazon has a slightly higher rating (3.8). Now obviously Glassdoor isn't always accurate and is subject to selection bias, but it can help provide a general idea of a company. For those who have direct/indirect experience with Two Sigma, what do you think, is it still a top company for engineers?
Was it ever? (Not being a jerk. I am genuinely curious. I could be just not knew that so far)
A few anecdotes on Blind have implied it and you sometimes hear about guys from G and FB who move there so it was a possibility. In terms of pure TC they are, but this thread is more about the whole package including culture. We could use more data points, that's what this thread is trying to do
How's Jane Street better?
None of the points OP cited from Glassdoor sound familiar to me.
It's just another big company now but still one of the better ones to be at. As for Glassdoor reviews, I feel like Amazon HR or recruiting is playing a role in inflating the ratings. I remember their numbers being much lower in the past, but I doubt they improved the average employee experience much in the past few years. Ironically, amazon.com is also full of fake reviews, yet many people take them very seriously.
"big company" could mean different things. Google, Amazon, IBM, Goldman Sachs are all big companies but quite different. Amazon could very well be faking their ratings, but what about Google, FB, and the others with stellar ratings? Two Sigma recruiting can't be the only one with integrity.
From ex-Two Sigma employee: Too easily siloed into niche with little transferability and collaboration due to fear of spreading information Also, selection bias stems from humans, who are present at every company - it's not like Google and Jane Street have higher ratings because they don't have to face selection bias.
Surprised to hear siloing of teams is that prominent at TS. Thought they’d be one of the better firms in that regard due to their open source exposure and contributions. That said they’re getting so big in headcount I guess it was inevitable.
Indeed, I've heard D.E. Shaw and Voleon are better in this regard. Rentec is even more extreme than 2S.