Yahoo! Company! Profile

Yahoo was founded in 1994 by Stanford University graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo. Yahoo provides internet services around the world, including search engine, web portal, Yahoo mail, directory services and more. The company was incorporated in 1995 and went public in April 1996 (YHOO on the NASDAQ). Yahoo is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA. As of this writing, Yahoo is the most visited website on the internet.

When Yahoo was originally founded, it was called Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web. When the founders decided to change the company name, they could not get a trademark for the name Yahoo, so they added the exclamation point, thus the trademarked version of the name Yahoo!

Yahoo! Media Relations has a great description of the History of Yahoo – How it All Started. as well as Key Milestones which only appears to go through 2003.

Yahoo! Company Culture

Yahoo employees are expected to work long hours, and in return, the company offers a lot of on-site perks (see below). There is a work hard, play hard mentality. The company fosters an environment of teamwork, offering video games and Foosball, and celebrating achievements and milestones with company parties.

Company events are very popular at Yahoo and include visits from influential speakers, quarterly company meetings, summer picnics, end of the year parties, even a Yahoo Halloween party (Oktoberfest).

Jobs at Yahoo!

There are thousands of openings at Yahoo worldwide as of this writing. Some of the popular technical openings include the following:

• Software Engineer
• Web Developers
• Technical Project/Program Managers
• QA Engineer
• Network Engineer
• System Administrators
• Database Administrators

Yahoo! Compensation and Benefits

The pay at Yahoo is competitive in the area. Yahoo benefits are a strong part of the package and, depending on the work location, may include the following:

• Stock Options/Employee Stock Purchase Plan –Through our ESPP plan, employees may invest in Yahoo! Inc. stock through payroll deductions. Employees pay only 85% of market value for the stock.
• 401K (with company match) – The Yahoo! 401(k) Plan is designed to help employees plan for their futures. Eligible employees’ contributions are made on a pretax basis. Yahoo! matches 25% of employee contributions up to the IRS maximum.
• Vacation –Yahoos accrue two weeks in year one, three weeks in year two, and an additional day for each year worked thereafter. Also, there are 12 paid holidays a year.
• Health Care – Yahoo! offers health care coverage for employees and their eligible dependents. Domestic partner coverage is also available as a taxable benefit.
• Medical Insurance – with several plans to choose from.
• Dental Insurance – Delta Dental - (DPO) with 100% preventative care coverage plus orthodontia for adults and children.
• Vision Insurance - Vision Service Plan (VSP): One exam and frames/lenses per year.
• Pre-Tax Savings Programs – Yahoo! offers employees two Flexible Spending Account options including medical spending and dependent care spending accounts.
• Income Protection – Basic life insurance/AD&D is provided to all employees at no cost (of two times annual salary). Additional voluntary life insurance (available for dependents as well) can be purchased at group rates. Also, company paid short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) coverage is also provided.

There are also a lot of perks at Yahoo, including the following:

• Casual work environment, with lots of company parties.
• Backup childcare
• Commuter options
• Consulting subsidies
• Discount movie passes
• Free one-year Yahoo! Music subscription
• Free sodas and specialty coffee drinks
• Free upgrade to Flickr Pro
• Game room
• Health club and massages
• Matching charitable gift program
• On-site ATM machine
• On-site cafeteria
• On-site car wash and oil change
• On-site dental care
• On-site dry cleaning
• On-site haircuts
• Tuition reimbursement
• Yahoo! Mart
• Yahoo! Store

More About Yahoo!

• Yahoo Corporate Blog
• Yahoo employee testimonials
• Yahoo Job Openings
• Yahoo College Recruiting

Yahoo! Values

According to the Yahoo! Website, the company values the following:

Excellence: We are committed to winning with integrity. We know leadership is hard won and should never be taken for granted. We aspire to flawless execution and don’t take shortcuts on quality. We seek the best talent and promote its development. We are flexible and learn from our mistakes.

Teamwork: We treat one another with respect and communicate openly. We foster collaboration while maintaining individual accountability. We encourage the best ideas to surface from anywhere within the organization. We appreciate the value of multiple perspectives and diverse expertise.

Innovation: We thrive on creativity and ingenuity. We seek the innovations and ideas that can change the world. We anticipate market trends and move quickly to embrace them. We are not afraid to take informed, responsible risk.

Community: We share an infectious sense of mission to make an impact on society and empower consumers in ways never before possible. We are committed to serving both the Internet community and our own communities.

Customer Fixation: We respect our customers above all else and never forget that they come to us by choice. We share a personal responsibility to maintain our customers’ loyalty and trust. We listen and respond to our customers and seek to exceed their expectations.

Fun: We believe humor is essential to success. We applaud irreverence and don’t take ourselves too seriously. We celebrate achievement. We yodel.

Alternatively, Yahoo also has a listing of things they do not value which makes for fun reading.