How is Pinterest Ads ranking team?

Roku
LFT

Go to company page Roku

LFT
Aug 24, 2020 12 Comments

Hello,

I’m in advanced stages of the interview with Pinterest Ads ranking team as an MLE.
Any insight into the team? Does it do interesting work? Scope for growth/promos? How is the HM? Is it considered a core team within Pinterest?

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TOP 12 Comments
  • It is a toxic team. People are fighting in the dark for projects and launches. The whole team is inexperienced and pretty weak in engineering, they are more like DS. The majority jobs are writing pipelines and doing experiments. The manager likes micro people management , very weak in engineering and ML. The team dynamics is problematic with such a terrible leader. Be careful, the team is full of intricate politics, very exclusive for new comers.
    Aug 25, 2020 1
  • It’s a strong team — been through many changes — and a high growth area. Congrats on making it to advanced rounds — this isn’t easy to do at Pins.
    Aug 24, 2020 3
    • I do think team is stable.

      Also: There are a fair number of haters. It’s possibly because they aren’t able to articulate things directly to their manager. It’s regrettable but outside of that I have no explanation. I’m sorry we’re not presenting a unified message here.

      One more thing: former head of Ads Eng isn’t current head of ads eng. There’s been a re-org. This may explain the bad attitude in part.
      Aug 25, 2020
    • Roku
      LFT

      Go to company page Roku

      LFT
      OP
      Are you in Ads engineering org? Can I DM you?
      Aug 25, 2020
  • World class team of engineers/scientists working on core metrics for monetization. Lots of growth opportunity because leadership is investing in the growth of the team. Managers have been at PINS for several years
    Aug 24, 2020 2
  • Roku
    LFT

    Go to company page Roku

    LFT
    OP
    The opinions from Pinterest employees seem to be conflicting. Any idea why?
    Aug 25, 2020 1
    • Some people post on blind because they like talking about work. Others post on blind because they like complaining about work.

      My pov: pinterest is more pleasant, less toxic, but more passive and somewhat directionless than other places I’ve worked. Ads ranking is a “core team” (the entire business revolves around ad placements in a home feed).

      Like most places, your experience will depend a lot on your HM. Ask for time to get to know them before you decide on an offer.
      Aug 25, 2020
  • Wow this is great advice. I hadn’t thought of bonding w HM, but individual HMs could make a big difference
    Aug 25, 2020 0