Salesforce careers cover a wide range of roles: engineering, sales, marketing, product, finance, legal, IT and more. Founded in 1999, Salesforce now has slightly over 30,000 employees and generates billions in annual revenues. The company’s main headquarters are in San Francisco. There is also a regional headquarters in Switzerland to cover Europe, Africa, India and other international locations.

Over 7,500 employees are based in San Francisco, and there is a large midwestern presence of several thousand in Indianapolis, IN. This office has been voted as one of the best workplaces in the state of Indiana.

While many people who are interested in working at Salesforce might assume San Francisco is where they would be located if they got a Salesforce job, there are other locations. Why does this matter?

San Francisco’s cost of living is one of the highest in the US, so if you moved there you might not ever be able to afford to own your own home and renting for many years doesn’t appeal to everyone. Fortunately, there are 6,000 Salesforce employees on Blind so we can share some unique insights about Salesforce careers in this article.

How do I get a job at Salesforce?

Like with any employment situation, getting a personal referral from an employee on the inside increases the chance of getting the job. If you know anyone at Salesforce that’s a start, or if people in your professional or personal network have contacts that’s an option as well.

There’s also LinkedIn and if you don’t have many connections there it’s probably a good idea to build up some more. Also, you could reach out to Salesforce recruiters on that site and Salesforce lists jobs on LinkedIn. You could also ask for a referral on Blind, like this user did: “I’m graduating soon and want to apply at Salesforce, SF in their product design team. I have relevant work experience.” Jan. 27, 2018

What is the compensation like?

The average Salesforce salary is $168, 748 per year, and the average software engineer salary is $151,759 ranging up to $211,000 according to Paysa. Salary is not the only consideration when it comes to compensation because total compensation includes stock, bonuses, possible relocation pay, benefits and perks.

Insights from Blind

“Expect ~10% with each promotion, unless you are a super star or your manager is. Started at 145 as SMTS few years back, at 180 now as a LMTS. Still very low and feel like new hires are way in better position. Considering to move to a different company, even I like it here.” (read more here) June 9, 2018

“I started at 110k as amts now mts – 135k.” May 18, 2018 (read more here)

“I make $200k cash + 15% bonus. Got 58k RSUs over 4 years. Just interviewed for a similar job at Airbnb and the salary was the same except $400k RSUs! Salesforce seems horribly, horribly off market here. I’m non-engineering GBO.” Aug. 1, 2018 (read more here)

“Director of Product, San Francisco, Base: $225, Bonus: 20%, RSU: $150k total over 4 years (or, 37.5k/yr).” Feb. 6, 2018 (read more here)

“I finished Salesforce interview and offer number recruiter told me is 235k. Feels low to me. Do Salesforce pay around 300 for someone with 7 years experience?” Feb. 6, 2018 (read more here)

For a PM Director role, “Is this a good offer? Base – 230 Bonus – 20% RSU – $250k/4 years.” (read more here)

“I am one year out of school working on the shiniest tech in the market — pytorch, gpu, cloud AI and large scale data etc.

• 130k base
• 5% bonus
• 200k worth of RSUs 4 yr. Cliff.” Mar. 16, 2018 (read more here)

“Got offer for LMTS – 300k TC in the bay area – one group in the infrastructure team. What’s the bonus / stock refreshers one can expect and do you get something in the first year?” May 17, 2018 (read more here)

What is the interview/hiring process like?

It depends on the role you are applying for and who you speak with but generally at tech companies they like to know if you have used their product or service and if you like it. If you have a strong personal connection or passion that’s even better.

Also, if you study their company culture before the interview and see how well you like it you will be better prepared for culture questions. Culture is very important at some tech companies — if you don’t fit the culture you might not get an offer.

Insights from Blind

For a question about a junior software engineer interview, one answer was: “They’ll ask you Java questions. For algorithms usually Leetcode easy or easier medium question.” Dec. 4, 2018

Another answer for an engineering interview, “Leet code medium level questions. Because it’s senior and above, lot of focus would be on system design. E.g. design a web cache or monitoring framework.” Nov. 10, 2017 (read more here)

For a question about an interview for the security team, one answer was: “I interviewed with Software Defined Security team at Salesforce a few months back. I don’t have any background in security nor was I asked any security related questions. Standard LeetCode, system design , API design & CS concepts. Lower end of medium difficulty spectrum.” Jan. 12, 2019 (read more here)

“Well SalesForce is really not into tech space so asking Palindrome itself was not required I guess…they are an application company and they are using tech from aws…so kind of explains what kind of people they are hiring.” May 30, 2018 (read more here)

“Typical whiteboard questions. Not that easy and not that hard. If you’re coming in as an intern, then yes, the interview is dead easy from what I’ve heard. But since you’re coming in as LMTS, then you actually get a real interview.” May 26, 2018 (read more here)

“Accepted an offer from Salesforce 3 weeks ago and was told to wait for written offer. Since then been told VP is reviewing and the approval is delayed due to an off-site. Found out last night that they have reposted the same opening back online and now my application shows “candidate withdrew interest”. Meanwhile, recruiter has now stopped responding and I have not gotten an “official” update. Just left hanging.” Aug. 21, 2018 (read more here)

For a technical product management role, there was a question about a mock interview and one answer was, “My educated guess would be that it’s a project planning session (think agile process) where you will be evaluated to see how you would manage the expectations of all stakeholders and deliver a plan to execute a given project.” April 6, 2018

What is the culture like?

The company culture at Salesforce emphasizes Ohana, which is the Hawaiian word for family. Four values and four behaviors support the Ohana concept. Trust, customer success, innovation, and equality are the values. Integrity, transparency, alignment and accountability are the behaviors.

Insights from Blind

“I have been in Salesforce for over 6 years working both on the product side and the infra side. The culture and wlb changes depending on the team and the manager. Each side has its own pros and cons. If you do not like your team you can always move over to another team. Transfers are easy and encouraged. You will do just fine. Congratulations on your offer.” May 26, 2018 (read more here)

“Don’t listen to these guys, Salesforce is a big company with big company culture and problems to solve. If you are getting hired to solve particular problems and your skill and background is valued then you will do fine. If you’re getting hired as a code monkey then you’ll probably be doing monkey work in a monkey org.” May 25, 2018 (read more here)

“In general there is definitely pressure to perform and it may be more than other companies but its really different by segment/geo/territory/cloud etc. Ive heard some groups like commercial (mid market) are higher pressure with more turnover but I dont know personally.” Jun. 10, 2018 (read more here)

“The people are generally nice, relaxed and laid back. My ideas have thus far felt listened to. I have some say in how much work I’m able to take on. I’ve worked at two other places before, and this is one of the better experiences I’ve had. I haven’t worked at fang or mandglust or whatever acronym they’re throwing around here though.” Jul. 15, 2018 (read more here)

“It’s a laid-back culture which treats its employees like humans. Not cutthroat enough like Amazon, not siloed enough like apple, doesn’t fire enough like Netflix, not short term oriented like fb. The only 2 companies even comparable are Google and Microsoft.” Jul. 25, 2018 (read more here)

“Good work life balance. Decent pay. Interesting work if you look for it. Really easy to switch teams if you’re a developer so you have some control on your happiness. As in if you have an asshole manager or team lead, you can just move out. No problems. Consequently, the no asshole policies is pretty ingrained in our culture…. At least on the lower levels. Also good work from home policy. I work from home at least twice a week.” Jul.15,  2018 (read more here)

“I have been working here more than 6 years and I can say that work life balance is super great here. Google and Facebook are top most popular companies and they are consumer based products.. they are building more innovative products than Salesforce. Salesforce is also investing on innovation but not that much scale as majority of products are enterprise software products.” Jul. 15, 2018 (read more here)

How are the perks?

Salesforce perks don’t emphasize pleasure as much like having onsite chefs. They tend to be more down to earth and simple. (The more lavish perks are at companies like Google and Facebook.) There are employee discounts, a commuter program, a shuttle service, and bike amenities.

Insights from Blind

“No free lunch or meals only eating areas on each floor with some fruit, chips, granola, etc. Also fridge has La Croix, Tejava tea and some sodas. There is shuttle but only for people living in the peninsula, nothing for East Bay (most of those people take Bart). There is also a holiday party every December for the whole tech department and also a summer party which alternates every year between the Exploratorium and the SF zoo.

No holiday gifts at least not on any teams I’ve been on. They give you 7 days of VTO time (days where you can say you volunteered and take the day off with pay). Thursdays are WFH days. You can get $50 every month for internet bill if you are an engineer. Can get a company phone. Occasionally they bring in some people to give free massages but you have to sign up early. They also really like to do happy hours every now and then.” Nov. 19, 2018 (read more here)

“$200 towards purchase of noise cancelling headphones. $100/month towards gym reimbursement.” Nov. 19, 2018

“Discounts on pretty much anything.” Jul. 14, 2017 (read more here)

What is the cost of housing in San Francisco?

San Francisco is one of the most expensive housing markets in the US. The average rent is over $3,000 per month. Because of the very high costs, many renters in the city choose shared living situations. If you are lucky, you might find a room in a house, apartment or condo not too far from public transportation for about $1200 a month or a little less. There are also some ‘tech professionals’ homes with multiple residents if you enjoy group living.

Are there advantages linked to Salesforce careers?

Salesforce is a leader in its industry so any time you can work at such an organization it could boost your career. It’s also a high-tech company with a good reputation among its employees. Some Salesforce staff have remained with the company for 10 years or more, which is very long tenure for some tech companies. (At Facebook, it has been reported the average tenure is about two years.) If you want stability and a long-term relationship with your employer, a Salesforce career might be just what you are seeking.

What are some of the disadvantages?

If you live and work in the Bay Area the number one disadvantage is the high cost of living. Even well-paid tech workers sometimes can’t afford to own a home in San Francisco and in the neighboring areas. The Bay Area also has very dense congestion at times so some people become fed up with it and move to cities like Seattle, Portland, Chicago and Austin.

Image Credit: Rayson Ho, Wikipedia,  CC0