How to Get a Job at Palantir

Palantir Details & History

Palantir Technologies, founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Joe Lonsdale, and Stephen Cohen, is a publicly traded (NASDAQ: PLTR) data analytics software firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company’s platforms include Gotham (for defense and intelligence), Foundry (for enterprise-scale data integration), Apollo (CI/CD for deploying software), and AIP (AI/LLM tools). As of 2024, Palantir employs around 3,900 people and reported revenues of $2.2 billion in 2023, with $210 million in net income.

Palantir Office Locations

Palantir Technologies is headquartered in Denver, Colorado (1200 17th Street, 15th Floor), its primary hub for engineering, product, and corporate teams. Originally based in Palo Alto, California, the company moved its HQ to Denver in mid‑2020 to align more closely with its evolving mission and culture

Beyond Denver, Palantir maintains a strong presence across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East:

• North America: Key U.S. offices include Palo Alto, Seattle, New York, Washington, D.C., Austin, Chicago, and Raleigh—plus Ottawa, Canada.
• Europe & Middle East: Major offices are located in London, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Munich, Madrid, Oslo, Stockholm, Zürich, Tel Aviv, and Abu Dhabi Palantir.
• Asia-Pacific: Regional hubs in Tokyo, Seoul, Canberra, Sydney—and smaller presence in cities such as Sydney and Brisbane.

In total, Palantir operates 25+ global offices, strategically positioned to support its work with government, defense, and enterprise clients worldwide.

Palantir Primary Competitors

Palantir operates in the high-stakes world of enterprise AI, defense tech, and big data infrastructure. Its primary competitors include:

• Snowflake – Competes on cloud-native data warehousing and analytics, especially in the private sector.
• Databricks – A major rival in AI/ML data engineering, with an open-source-first ethos and deep enterprise traction.
• Anduril – A defense-focused startup often compared to Palantir, founded by Palantir alum Palmer Luckey, with strong government contracts.
• AWS & Microsoft Azure – While they’re infrastructure providers, both have increasingly expanded into analytics and AI services that overlap with Palantir’s Foundry and Apollo offerings.
• C3.ai – Another AI enterprise software company with government and industrial clients, often competing in similar contract spaces.

While many of these companies focus on one layer of the tech stack, Palantir’s full-stack approach—from data integration to AI application deployment—sets it apart. Still, as AI adoption accelerates, the race to own enterprise intelligence is heating up.

Top Palantir Departments for Entry-Level Roles

Palantir hires early-career talent across several high-impact teams. The most common entry points include:

1. Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE)
   • Work directly with clients to implement Palantir’s platforms in real-world scenarios.
   • Blend of software engineering, product thinking, and problem-solving.
   • Highly regarded as a launchpad for future founders and operators.
2. Software Engineering
   • Core engineering teams working on products like Foundry, Gotham, Apollo, and AIP.
   • Strong technical mentorship, high impact, and mission-driven work.
   • Common for new grads from top CS programs.
3. Deployment Strategist
   • Non-technical but deeply analytical role that pairs with FDEs to scope and execute projects.
   • Great for generalists with strong problem-solving, communication, and data skills.
   • Often open to grads from varied backgrounds (econ, stats, policy, etc.).
4. Business Operations & Growth
   • Roles supporting GTM (go-to-market), strategy, and sales enablement.
   • Less technical, but good for candidates with a consulting, finance, or operations mindset.
5. Product Design / UX Research
   • Palantir values design that can handle complexity—entry-level roles are available but competitive.
   • Ideal for grads with strong portfolios and interest in enterprise tools.

Diversity at Palantir

Palantir has made strides in building a diverse team but still faces challenges common in tech and defense-related fields. The company publishes an annual Inclusion & Diversity Report, and employees have praised its merit-based culture and strong support for internal mobility. However, public DEI data shows room for growth, particularly in gender and racial diversity at senior levels.

Is remote work allowed at Palantir?

Yes, but it depends on the role. Palantir operates a hybrid-first model. Many engineering roles allow for a mix of in-office and remote work, while client-facing teams (like FDEs and Deployment Strategists) often need to be on-site with partners or travel frequently.

Is it hard to get a job with Palantir?

Yes—Palantir is known for its rigorous hiring process. Candidates often go through multiple rounds of technical, analytical, and behavioral interviews, with a strong focus on problem-solving and mission alignment. The bar is high, but so is the payoff: new grads can earn total compensation packages that rival or exceed FAANG-level offers.

Does Palantir have good benefits?

Yes—Palantir offers competitive and well-regarded benefits. Highlights include:

• High base salaries and equity (especially for early-career engineers)
• Free meals and snacks at most offices
• Generous PTO and parental leave policies
• Health, dental, and mental wellness programs
• Strong internal mobility and learning opportunities

Some employees note that the demanding culture and hours can offset the perks, especially in client-facing roles.

Who is Palantir looking to hire?

Palantir values people of all backgrounds to create community in their workforce. They especially seek out those who demonstrate their company values.

Palantir Values

While not always published in a list, Palantir’s culture emphasizes:

• Mission over prestige – focus on solving complex real-world problems, especially in defense, healthcare, and energy
• Meritocracy & intellectual rigor – great ideas can come from anywhere, and curiosity is celebrated
• Ownership & autonomy – teams move fast, and early-career hires are trusted with serious responsibility
• Ethical use of tech – internal debate is encouraged to ensure technology is used responsibly, especially in defense and public-sector use cases

Palantir Interview Process

Palantir is known for a multi-stage and thoughtful interview process that tests both hard skills and alignment with the company’s problem-solving mindset.

Engineering & Technical Roles:

• Round 1: Online Assessment (for some roles) – logic puzzles or coding problems
• Round 2: Technical Interviews – 1–2 rounds of data structures/algorithms or system design
• Round 3: Onsite / Virtual Final – often 3–4 interviews, including:
  • Coding
  • Debugging
  • System architecture
  • Problem-solving scenarios
  • Behavioral / cultural alignment

Non-Technical Roles (e.g., Deployment Strategist):

• Round 1: Written Exercise or Case Prompt
• Round 2: Behavioral + Case Interviews
• Round 3: Final Round – often includes:
  • Collaboration scenario (how you'd work with clients or engineers)
  • Deep-dive on a past project or hypothetical strategy
  • Cultural fit / values-based conversations

Bridged Tip: Candidates say it's “hard to prepare for” because interviews are often unconventional—Palantir is testing how you think, not just what you know.

Palantir Internship Program

Palantir offers highly competitive internships across engineering, product, and business roles. Interns work on real client-facing problems or internal tools that ship to production—no coffee runs here.

• Roles: Software Engineering, Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE), Deployment Strategy, Design
• Duration: Typically 10–12 weeks over the summer
• Location: Mostly in-office at HQs like Palo Alto or NYC, but some hybrid flexibility
• Compensation: Among the highest in tech—often ~$10,000/month with housing included
• Experience: Interns get dedicated mentorship, ownership of impactful work, and often convert to full-time roles

Bridged tip: The interview process mirrors full-time hiring, so be ready for technical or case-style assessments depending on the role.

Palantir Associate Product Manager (APM) Program

Palantir does not have a formal MBA rotational program, but it does hire MBAs into key roles—especially:

• Deployment Strategist: For MBAs with consulting, analytics, or policy backgrounds who want to solve operational problems at scale
• Business Development / Operations: Focused on growth, partnerships, or GTM
• Product Roles: Occasionally, MBAs with a tech background land product manager roles, though this is less common than at traditional big tech firms

Palantir values generalist thinkers with grit and a bias toward action, so MBAs from top programs who bring real-world experience and analytical chops tend to stand out—even without a formal “MBA program” structure.

We have a tried-and-true process to help our Bridged readers get hired. It's 5 primary steps, but the meatiest is finding ways to get specific experience. Read on for recommendations.

Identify Your Target Role

Do your research, through Bridged or another company, to identify roles that may align well with your interests and core competencies. You can start here with our review of Best Entry-Level Tech Jobs to explore some options.

Explore Ways to Get Experience

There are lots of ways to gain job experience without being on the job. Bridged gives several recommendations in our Job Guides for each job, but you can start by exploring programs like Coursera or Udemy to get valuable, resume-ready certifications from reputable sources.

For Palantir specifically, some certifications will be great building blocks towards a role-- but not the entire piece. Don't let a bootcamp fool you into thinking you can immediately land a competitive role at Palantir after completion of their $3,000 program.

Use Jobscan to Optimize Your Resume

Even if you're the most impressive person Palantir has ever seen, we're sad to report it's part pure luck if you get picked for an interview.

We've written a whole article about this, but you'd be surprised how many impressive resumes NEVER see the eyes of a human! That's because of a pesky-little thing called an Applicant Tracking System (or ATS for short) that scans and ranks resumes based on their matchability to the job descriptions.

For a company like Palantir that's getting hundreds of candidates DAILY, it's extremely important to match their ATS. Palantir is one of the most prominent users of Greenhouse, which is a finicky software for a bunch of reasons-- but a big one is that it doesn't recognize verb tenses or abbreviations. For example, if you write Product Management Leader instead of Product Manager, when the description says "Product Manager" it will not give you a match point! Read more examples and our full review writeup here.

Use Linkedin Premium to Find and Reach out to Palantir Employees & Recruiters

If you think you have what it takes to work at Palantir, it never hurts to reach out to an employee for a referral or a recruiter to get noticed. This is especially relevant if you're looking for an internship and can find the person in charge of recruiting interns.
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We recommend a premium subscription because it allows you to view more profiles and send more Inmails. This way you can locate and reach out to the exact recruiter that works on an area that hosts your target roles. Be funny, and emphasize the work you've done to match with your target role, and take feedback gracefully.

And Finally: Be Patient

It's a weird world out there in the job market. Everyone is getting rejections. Don't let it get to you, and keep upskilling in the process. Someday you'll see you're exactly where you need to be, and on the right path. Good luck!

Palantir isn’t your average tech company—it’s part startup, part government contractor, and part think tank. If you're looking for prestige, high pay, and the chance to work on complex, world-shaping problems, it delivers. But it also comes with intensity: fast pace, philosophical interviews, and a culture that demands autonomy and rigor from day one. For early-career talent, especially engineers and generalist problem-solvers, Palantir can be a springboard to huge impact—or even your own startup someday.

Here at Bridged we are huge fans of stacking micro-certifications to achieve desired career results. We're building a product to make your career planning fun and affordable, and we'd love to talk to YOU! Was this article helpful? Did you land an interview at Palantir?

Let us know at hello@getbridged.co