Ciena Reviews

I have been working at Ciena

Pros – The people....technology....great benefits....ability to accomplish amazing tasks when everyone works as a team....nice facilities....and again the people, some really great people work at Ciena.

Cons – this new upper management team seems to have zero direction, major decisions take forever to be made these days, salaries very much out of whack as some areas pay very well and others have not had raises in years. some areas overworked while constantly having to justify their job. outsourcing effecting quality of product.

Advice to Senior Management – Don't fix it if it works....stand behind what you preach.....stop lying.....outsourcing is not the answer, just because it looks good on a spreadsheet doesn't mean it is best for ciena nor does it mean it will work....get the company going in the same direction, it still acts as two not as one.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Ciena

Pros – very good work life balance

Cons – no career growth opportunities. the company is quite old after acquiring Nortel

Advice to Senior Management – let people grow in the company layer 3 is too crowded very few can go to level 4 and the promotion criteria is not transparent

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Ciena

Pros – -. Ethernet Technology
-. Converge Ethernet and Optical into single platform
-.

Cons – -. Reduce management to employee ratio

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Ciena

Pros – Good benefits and mediocre pay for entry level engineers.
Free water and restrooms are nice.
Most people are friendly.
Interesting to learn various telecom technology.

Cons – Not much growth opportunity.
There are barely raises and bonuses are nearly none existent.
Promotions don't seem to come and a good amount of incompetency in the company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Ciena

Pros – - Good salary and benefits
- Good opportunites
- Decent time off policies
- Decent working environment
- Some opportunities for growth (if the company grew)

Cons – - Terrible top management. Same senior management and Board of Directors for at least 10 years. Golden parachutes (for what?) are abundant. That is the main reason for all the "one-time charges".
- Layoffs, acquisition, layoffs, acquisition, layoffs, acquisition
- Titles are out of whack. Directors, Senior Directors, VP are flying around everywhere. Who actually works there?

Advice to Senior Management – Get some folks (and not the cronies that started with the original Ciena organization) in there and run it as "real company". CEO Gary Smith's previous job was as Vice President of Sales at the semi-public entity Intelsat. Time to change (even if it will cost the CEO's 3 million dollar exit agreement).

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Ciena

Pros – The work environment is nice and relaxing. It is mainly focused on network solutions which makes anyone interested in that field feel comfortable.

Cons – Some of the locations of Ciena sites can be unsuitable for some people. Also, it is not very well known although it has been expanding greatly.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Ciena

Pros – Technical leadership in the industry
Benefit

Cons – Crazy leadership style
Always changing organization and marketing strategy
Politics in office

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Ciena

Pros – Ciena pays among the leaders.

Cons – Work/life balance could use improvement.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to employee, ask for feedback.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Ciena

Pros – people are great to work with. very professional

Cons – Little career development or advancement

Advice to Senior Management – focused on company growth

I have been working at Ciena

Pros – learning opportunities are available; good place to work closely with teams from different functions;global presence; focus on customers and relationships

Cons – poor systems; weak in integration; feels like you are always playing catch up to meet deadlines or quarterly revenue targets;no salary increases.

Advice to Senior Management – Invest in tools for engineering teams;motivate personnel with annual salary increase;reduce number of layers and senior executives with meaningless titles

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend