Ensemble Reviews

I don't like saying anything bad; however, this place really deserves it: 1. The CTO is incompetent. He believes that Java is the be all end all of languages, which is ludicrous. I don't want to give too much detail here but I heard him speak of its benefits, which were actually detriments - garbage collection to be exact. Let's just say that he shouldn't be a CTO with such a closed mind and lack of knowledge. 2. There are a group of developers that have been there for a long time, about a decade and a half. They seem okay at first but one guy in particular tried setting me up on three different occasions. Seriously, I felt like I was in grade school. Luckily for me I had copies of all correspondence. 3. They like to throw people under the bus, so to speak. All of the problems on a particular project would be blamed on one person, who is then promptly fired. This speaks to the character of the longer term employees. I have personally witnessed several people being fired for bogus reasons that were definitely worthy of a lawsuit. 4. The prominently display a plaque stating "Top 25 best companies in BC to work for." Unbelievable. The location itself should remove the company from that list, let alone the garbage that goes on in there.

It is very difficult to list any pros of this company. First, the interview process is usually only about ten minutes long. At times even shorter. Usually they hire based on "feel". They also like to hire people usually straight out of University because they are easy to mould, they are cheap and they usually are just happy to get a job. They also constantly hire friends, family or friends of a families which can yield to nepotism. Then when someone doesn't work out due to personality fit or they just don't like them, they fire them. Firing happens so often here. The first year and a half I was there, there was probably one person fired each month (or it eventually averaged to that). But that is only the start. Many leave as well and this company has very large turnover for a reason. The environment is very unprofessional. Many in management have never worked anywhere else, which isn't necessary to run a good company or to be a good manager, but in this case their inexperience is quite evident. If something goes wrong, management will always point fingers at others. They are also extremely sensitive, and take things personally, yet when the tables turn, they say its just business. There is no form of company structure so you can be answering to four people all at once. They will often say they want you to grow and choose your projects, but for the most part, they'll put you on a project based on need. Growth is an afterthought. They can also hire someone as a software developer but due to need, will get software developers to do QA or System Administration full time. Promotions and raises are usually given to "lifers" or those that are favoured within the company. Travelling for projects usually means travelling for months on end sometimes years. I've never heard of company lunches that you had to make up the time for, but that is how it is here since its consulting and you have to bill the 40 hours per week.