Cognella Reviews

Take a look at Mr. Hamadeh's language on this very forum to get a better idea of what it is like to work for him. If you disagree with him or his policies, you will see these words and phrases thrown out at you: "bad seed;" "propaganda;" "toxicity;" "immature;" "inexperienced;" "clouded lens;" "underhanded;" "short-sighted;" and my personal favorite: "lacking a moral compass." Since when does expressing frustration with a job indicate a lack of morality? These ad hominem attacks are par for the course at Cognella; prepare to become either a yes-man or a pariah at this company, as there is no in-between. To those complaining about long hours, in Mr. Hamadeh's defense, he is very clear about the seasonal nature of the company and does not hide his expectations that employees should do what they need to do to get the job done for Cognella's clients. This should not surprise anyone with any experience in the working world. Many companies function like this, and Cognella's fringe benefits, such as above average quantities of paid holidays, vacation, and sick time are meant to partially compensate for the time periods in which longer hours are required. If the salary and benefits offered upon hiring are not sufficient to mitigate your concerns about hard work and overtime, then you should not accept the job offer. The very worst thing about the company is the culture. If Mr. Hamadeh one day succeeds in getting rid of everyone who disagrees with company policies, matters will be even worse, for then there would be nothing but sycophants to surround him and pad his ego. The talented people who join the company are very bright, and that means that they are clever enough to nod their heads at the right times and even curry favor by writing slavish reviews on Glassdoor. (To answer the question of whether management encourages employees to post positive reviews here: I was personally asked to do so by a former manager during my time at the company. It happens. Whether Mr. Hamadeh is a knowing party to this practice is another issue entirely.) How is the culture bad? It comes from the narcissism of Mr. Hamadeh himself. He is passionate about his company, but this passion is defensive, jealous, and paranoid where better leaders would demonstrate passion that is steady, confident, and benevolent. Think of a boy-king who surrounds himself with ingratiating advisors, rules through fits and tantrums, banishes those in his court who fall out of favor, searches for assassins in every shadow, and punishes free thinking with an autocratic iron fist. If you don't mind working for a CEO like this, by all means, join Cognella.

I find it a bit odd that some of these overly positive reviews sound as if they were written by the CEO himself, or perhaps the marketing team. I would urge you, the reader, to be at least somewhat skeptical of the enthusiastic cheerleader reviews posted here, as they do not accurately depict the working environment at this company. Yes, employees have been encouraged and asked to write positive reviews to make the company look better on Glassdoor. The turnover at Cognella is appalling. People leave in cycles as soon as any opportunity presents itself to get out the door. There are several reasons for this: 1. The atmosphere is toxic. You will be sold a great company culture with ample room to grow, an entrepreneurial environment in which you are encouraged to expand your position and "everyone gets to wear the CEO hat". The reality will be that you will be working an average of 12 hour days, never getting the chance to do any of the great things you were promised because your workload will be so ridiculous it will simply be impossible to do anything else. 2. Lack of support. Yes, the CEO will declare that his door is always open until he's blue in the face, and some reviews here argue that he's a great listener and fosters creativity and innovation from his team. It does seem this way, at first. This euphoric mirage will quickly disappear as your ideas are stifled, you are told none of your initiatives are a priority, or better yet, you are told to tackle huge company-wide initiatives singlehandedly without any support or resources and then berated for not working hard enough and not being able to execute as quickly as they would like. 3. Poor Management. Although I had high hopes that Cognella was making a turn for the better when they brought on a slew of new upper-level managers, my hopes were quickly dissipated as I realized these new managers were going to be just as overworked, unappreciated, and have the life sucked out of them like I was. Let's be honest, there is no management. In order to be able to manage successfully, one must have the time to review, evaluate, and manage, and most importantly must be empowered to do so by their management team. This just isn't going to happen. 4. All negative aspects of the job are blamed on the seasonal nature of the work - LIES. Yes, the seasonal ups and downs can certainly make things more challenging at times, but in no way is this the scapegoat for all negative associations with the work. Not to mention, you will be told the seasonal busy periods are only "a few weeks", sure, if by a few weeks you mean three to four months of non-stop, crushing anxiety, and pressure, after which you will just be playing catch-up with all of the low-priority tasks you had to forgo, and be constantly asked why you are so far behind on your tasks. Accept a position here at your own risk, but I've seen people work here for 1 week and quit. In retrospect, I honestly wish I had done the same, but I believed all of the great things they were telling me and drank the metaphorical cool-aid, only to have wasted years of my professional life.