In the beginning…NVIDIA not only saw the future of computing when they were formed back in 1993, they’ve helped to shape it ever since. Having the vision that one day the PC would become a popular consumer device for playing games and viewing multimedia content of all stripes, they joined over two dozen other existing companies that were developing graphics chips, a number that exploded to more than seventy within a couple short years. By 2006, NVIDIA was the only independent graphics chip maker still operating, having invented the GPU in 1997 and becoming the standard in the designing industry soon thereafter.
Into the Future
After becoming a household name in the gaming industry and the computer world at large, in 2018 NVIDIA once again reshaped the future of graphics-based computing by releasing their new Turing architecture and their RAPIDS and Clara platforms among several other game-changing developments, setting a new stage for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotics development and deployment across a wide spectrum of industries from medical devices to genomic sequencing, to self-driving cars and everything in between.
Company Overview
Nvidia reported record revenues of $9.71 billion in its FY18 annual report in February, up 41% from $6.91 billion from 2017.
Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, the company’s mission is stated as “Bringing superhuman capabilities to some of the world’s toughest problems.” It’s been named one of Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work” 5 out of the past 7 years (2012–2019), with 97% of responding employees approving of the CEO and 91% saying they would recommend the company to a friend as a place of employment. The company has over 10,000 employees with company revenues just over $9.7 billion in 2017, and Glassdoor showed 157 jobs at NVIDIA available at the time of this writing.
Why You Want to Work There
Employees rate the company 4.5 out of 5 stars on Glassdoor, with the majority stating multiple benefits to working there. At the top of that list for most is that it is a fulfilling job with ample opportunity for growth and advancement, perfect for those who love a challenge rather than just showing up for a paycheck. Many cite “an above average paycheck” and good medical and dental benefits as well, but more common are comments relating to “good teams” a “string work ethic from everyone”, a “visionary CEO”, “no politics or empire building”, and working with people who are “smart, driven, creative, and hard working… the kind of place where you’re surrounded by people who are going to challenge you to dig a little deeper and push a little further than you think you can.”
As with any media jobs or workplaces in general, there are always downsides as well. However the only real common thread in the employee reviews seems to be related to the culture of being driven to succeed, which most ambitious people who thrive on challenges might see as a positive. Some representative comments include “During busy times, the work load is intense and there are very long hours”, “Expect to be asked to achieve goals that seem crazy”, and “You will be challenged from day 1. But stay flexible. Cool ideas are born all the time, as others get killed.”