Ciena reviews

I was laid off one day before I would have been eligible to receive my annual bonus. Nice, huh? Lack of communication and a lot of disconnect within the team.

For many of the pros there are equivalent cons. Because of their heritage in Optical their mgmt doesn't really understand other market areas and struggles to truly transition to new markets.Not an indictment on intelligence as all smart folks - but rather one of easier and safer to do more of the same and stay in comfort zone (perhaps a muscle memory thing as well) - sell more optical boxes. Culture is a bit mafia or rock-star like - inner circle of core people who insulate themselves and thrive on fans/groupies who don't challenge the establishment; therefore unless on the inside, can be challenging on a number of fronts to progress or truly move the ball forward. Many Nortel folks who bring a bit of that insular and political culture with long time relationships. Not a bad company, but an old world east coast company, politically charged environment with a watch-your-back culture. So if you are good at saluting the flag and clapping on cue, then you'll do just fine and fit in. Only Silicon Valley employees get RSUs - others do not. Sales driven culture, not product innovation driven - neither pro nor con on that - just the way it is.