People seem to think it is a nice place to work with an amazing culture, an opposite of Amazon, while really, it isn't. It is worse, because Amazon does not go around touting its great work culture ,where as for LinkedIn, there is a pretense of great culture, almost cult like, which starts the day of your interview. You will hear all the buzzwords and phrases from the very start. Things like "act like an owner", "relationships matter" etc. will roll off your tongue easier than your name!
Pretty limited growth opportunities for those with 5+ years of experience. Also, hard to move up if you are not friends/ ex-colleagues with the boss or haven't gone to to a Ivy league school. Your senior management will likely not respect you unless you are a Ivy league or Top B school grad or have worked at McKinsey/ Bain etc. Very very true esp for the sales org. If you have worked for Google or such companies before, that helps too.
There is a sense of insecurity among line managers and mid level managers, which prevents them from promoting the best talent and instead promoting the "yes men". Standing out is difficult. If you've drunk the kool aid and are not hugging every second person you see, you might not be able to move up.
Also, the other review about the top leaders group being an "old boys club" - they couldn't have said it better. Spot on. It is a club that only takes people like itself. Another thing you need to do is to act like you are 18 and at your first party. You will see a lot of jumping around, dancing around in sales offsites etc. If you are not a party animal and not good at pretending to be one, be prepared to feel left out.
Another issue is lack of collaboration across functions. Most leaders and groups are seeking success for themselves and in the process, the bigger goal does get overlooked many a times. It is hard to act like ONE linkedin, very hard.
The culture seems to be better for some groups, so do check with someone on the internal side if you can before you accept an offer. I have heard of great leaders across all groups - sales, product, marketing etc. but also pretty bad ones. So, some research will do you good.
Overall, it has been a positive learning experience, but can definitely do with better culture, which always starts top down.
