Technology wannabe with a thick layer of inexperienced IT managers
Pros
- Relatively stable Retail company. - Opportunities to learn ins-outs of Retail as Nordstrom is multichannel - stores/online, full price/off price - Pay is relatively good compared to other retailers. Compared to technology companies like Microsoft/Amazon, pay is less unless of course, your hiring manager is your buddy.
Cons
- Inexperienced IT managers - This is the single major con in my view. Make sure you interview your manager while you are interviewed. In Nordstrom, IT managers can make or break your career ( & in many other companies) but there are times when you get screwed up because of your manager's inexperience and that happens quite often and prevalent in many teams. For example, managers ambush engineers during appraisals with surprise feedback (frequent feedback/conversation is a myth), change goals at last moment, prioritize their own interest on top of company goals. - Some teams are great and some are really screwed up. In the sense, some teams make 'modernization' a goal but don't really know how to quantify their goals and how to plan out the execution. Lots of immature technology decisions are made which hurt the team and company in the long run. One of the teams I would stay away from is IT Supply Chain & Merchandising unless of course, your hiring manager is your friend because talent can only get you so far. - CTO left less than a year. He was a great guy and brought lots of changes (in the right direction) but he left and now it's starting to become a mess again. That's never a good sign. - They are continuously leaking talent and hiring as well but the attrition rate is quite high.
