Pros
• Salary Reviews: Yearly salary reviews are a definite plus - you can look forward to a potential raise if you meet the set conditions, do not expect much though. • Team Culture: The team culture in our office is commendable, though this might be because we're a newly formed team. Word of mouth indicates other teams have some toxicity. • Team Switching: Although the company handbook states team switching is possible after a year, this can be quite challenging in reality. Management suggests a minimum two-year stay in your current team, but when employees attempt to switch teams after this period, they often find the interview process unexpectedly tough. This may be due to "internal politics" making it difficult for you to move. While it's not explicitly forbidden, the obstacles can feel insurmountable. • Supportive Management: Our team's manager is pretty good, always trying to be helpful and supportive. • Compensation and Benefits: The pay and stock options (RSUs) are decent. However, the full benefits of the RSUs don't kick in until you've been with the company for 4-5 years. Basic benefits like meal cards and health insurance are covered.
Cons
• Office Space: The offices are small and overcrowded. During the summer, it gets uncomfortably hot and noisy. The lack of an actual separated kitchen area doesn't help either. • Career Progression: Don't expect a fast track to promotions. Even if you're an overachiever, moving up from L1 to L2 can take ages. Higher positions like Tech Lead or Manager are nearly impossible unless someone leaves. • Workload and Stress: The workload in the TAC role is beyond intense. The daily influx of new tickets is relentless, with no regard for your existing backlog. The pressure to clear tickets can make you feel like you're always playing catch-up, leading to high-stress levels. This gets exacerbated by the mandatory call handling, which can turn the role into something akin to a high-pressure call center job. On top of this, the customer interactions, particularly with clients from the Middle East, can be highly stressful. Language barriers and cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings and friction. These customers can often be demanding, expecting immediate resolution of issues that may not even fall within our team's responsibility. Yet, due to the focus on customer satisfaction, you're often compelled to address their demands, regardless of your already overflowing plate. This constant barrage of tickets and calls, paired with demanding customers and high-stress situations, can easily lead to burnout. The team is under enormous pressure, and the exhaustion is palpable. The job demands a significant toll on your mental health, and over time, this can manifest into physical health issues as well. It's a punishing environment, where the pace and pressure never seem to let up. • Learning Resources: Training materials are severely limited and don't go beyond what's offered to customers/partners. You're pretty much on your own when it comes to learning new things. • Company Culture: The TAC team often feels overlooked and undervalued, with little to no involvement in company events or activities. • False Promises: Despite promises made during the interview process, no one in our team has received the promised hardware FortiGate after almost 2 years of the TAC office existence. Besides this, our team has been promised for almost 1 year that we would have an increase from 22 PTO to 25, this has not happened despite all this time.