software engineer

senior software engineer

senior product manager

staff accountant

front end developer

KAYAK

My time at kayak started pretty well to be honest. But that lasted maybe for a month. There were many factors that contributed to this downhill turn but if I had to name one major reason it would have to be the weak and inept finance department leadership. The head of finance doesn't have any empathy for her subordinates, her cold demeanor  compared to the CEO and VP was pretty evident from day one.

She never listened to her employees in the finance department about any of their complaints/issues with managers or HR issues. Her robotic response was to always re-address the issue with the manager. In my case, my issues at the company really stemmed from the work relationship with my accounting manager.

 Her micromanaging and rudeness was on a daily basis. I will list a couple of things that I  have gone through:

1) Instead of helping a new employee understand and learn the job responsibilities, she took pleasure in reprimanding me with every 'supposed' mistake in her eyes. This started from day one and was a sign of things to come.

2) When the work from home began during covid, the worst attributes of her came out. She essentially wanted to know what I was doing every minute of my 8 hour shift to the point that she made me make a spreadsheet on google docs where I was forced to document every minute of work which I later realized was only being done to me whereas there was four other people reporting to her as well. This also affected my productivity as an employee. Something which she failed to see.

3) While practically everyone else in the team had no issue in getting their PTO, I was always given a hard time to get any sort of time off and at times she would even request me to change my plans. One related example was before the pandemic started, we had 1-2 days per month to be able to work from home. When I asked her if I could do that she said I couldn't while there were other team-mates who were able to do it. When I brought this issue up, she said I was too new and she didn't  trust me enough at that point. To not know your employee enough and start the work relationship on such a sour note speaks volumes of the the fact that she didn't know what she was doing.

4) Her discourteous and disrespectful behavior really came to light when we were forced to work from home because of the pandemic. The condescending way in which she spoke to me and treated me, made me start feeling depressed and anxious. I would not look forward to work and cry to my family about it. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore and I went to HR to figure this out and they essentially said there was nothing they could do about it. In fact HR relayed to me that I would have to undergo remediation and resolve these issues with my manager. Knowing that she doesn't like me, I chose to remove myself from the situation and quit the job for my own mental health.

One thing that I noticed is that when I first started, a lot of new people were hired in my department and a lot of them have also quit those positions which says a lot. In the end, I don't have regrets about my experience at kayak, in fact, this was an enlightening experience. It taught me about my self-worth and what I don't want for myself or anyone else in the future.


KAYAK used to be a good company to work for and they treated employees fairly well. Management was always a sore issue but there was some transparency and a willingness to work on the rough edges. 

2020 showed their true colors - With morale already low, the highly unqualified sr. management team breeds a "free-for-all"/finger-pointing culture to weed out who makes mistakes. Those who gave the company life and were best at their jobs were let go or already left the company. 

If you're looking for growth, KAYAK is not for you - Favoritism is rampant and they make it nearly impossible for you to hit all of your metrics to be eligible for a promotion.

There is an excellent level of youthful energy at Kayak Software, and many excellent colleagues. The work atmosphere is definitely excellent for the most part, but the specific group I had been hired to work with was in process of change, so I can only speak positively to the first half of my year there.

Kayak was just a terrific place to work. They understand the idea of a "work hard, play hard" environment. There were games like ping pong, billiards and foosball in the office that you could play during the day to just relax and re-energize. You worked 8 hours a day, but it didn't matter when you worked the 8 hours, as long as you got your 8 hours in. It was just an absolutely terrific culture.

Great culture, overall great experience, very fast paced commercial environment where all team members are willing and happy to help one another. Hours are typical 9-6 (however some work more in senior positions) they are very respectful of time off, sick leave and weekends.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Employment Discount and swim tickets

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Management

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Laid back and efficient

Some good people. Upper management kind of clueless, just looking to hire millennials, so they had a slide between floors constructed. An astoundingly expensive coffee machine. So if you like that kind of thing, it’s a good place for you.

Really great culture, very customer focused. They move fast, they're cheerful, and there's not too much bureaucracy. It's also fun working at a company that gets so much love from its users :)

Fast pace, innovative and best people to work with. 
Many social activities
Good benefit and perks
Communication with management is direct and responsive.
Good career development-people grow inside KAYAK

Concord does not have many things to offer, but the office in Cambridge is nicer. I learned a lot at my work and my manager provided a lot of help during my internship.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 3 salaries reported	$113,667 per year
Senior software engineer 1 salary reported	$142,500 per year
Senior product manager 6 salaries reported	$155,833 per year
Staff accountant 4 salaries reported	$83,750 per year
Front end developer 4 salaries reported	$119,375 per year

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