ecalix Reviews

- Terrible communication: I didn't know where I would live for the entire time I was there and accommodations changed at a moments notice -training felt like a sales meeting: Both trainers would try and sway employees into their classes regardless of educational background. You do need tech skills to be a QA -Loose morals: They tell you that you will be marketed as having 6 years experience as a QA or BA. Most people like me were fresh college graduates. They do this by having employees sign promissory notes of about 8,000 dollars. These are enforceable outside of your contract. Afterward they give you a fake resume and social media profile. They also have you sit with a marketing team and memorize answers about your fake experience. -Contract: I had their contract reviewed by a lawyer who specialized in this type of law. He stated that their were a number of errors and that the contract offered me no protection. They also stated that anything mentioned in email would be legally binding. Just to let you guys know that is false. - Predatory: They ultimately seek out international students who want to stay in the country. These people are not able to say know to some of the shadier practices listed above.

There were many cons which is why I stayed for about a week. (only for training so I can't say much about the working on the projects aspect) So I applied from my college's job board, passed the interview, and came for the training. Free housing: Is just that. When I arrived there were I was placed in an apartment with 5 other guys. Upon arriving the room I was staying in was locked and the guy living in the room was out of town so we had to break in the room. There were clothes everywhere and a mattress on the ground, I was appalled. So, I drop my stuff and decide to get something to eat and look around town. I go and come back to find my roomie has arrived and he explains that someone is supposed to be moving in. I was already afraid, and now I'm freaking out at the thought of not having a place to stay. After a few calls I get moved to another apartment. Again, mattress on floor, really basic stuff. Upon first impression I'm not very impressed, but I traveled from a another state so I decide to stay. I was later moved again to another apartment. In the third apartment, it was pretty dirty. Imagine living with 5 guys that do not like to clean. Dirty kitchen, sink full of dishes, clothes/junk everywhere, and again, mattress on the ground. It's really surreal if you're not used to living like that. The apartment has two rooms, so two mattress per room plus two mattresses in the living room. The third apartment didn't even have a TV. It's almost like freshman year of college, complete with those people that stay up all night playing video games. Luckily, I had a mattress in a room, so I was able to go to sleep at a decent time. But imagine having your mattress in the living room. One of the nights while there our WiFi router stopped working. Resetting it didn't work so we went to the person over the housing. There was no compassion. She simply said that she had already had it reset and couldn't do anything. My roomie/buddy also had a question about getting moved since his mattress was in the living room. She couldn't do anything about that, stating that it was company policy. Not even a "sorry". No compassion. I talked to her three days in a row and she couldn't ever remember my name. On the last day of me staying, I returned the apartment key and she was surprised that I had key. "Oh, you were staying in the apartments?", she said. Training: I learned a lot from training, but it was like those college classes that your instructor reads from the PowerPoint. Except she read from a PDF. Also, after the first day of training it didn't seem to start on time. Sometimes an hour late, sometimes more. I got the impression that since our group was small that it didn't really matter the time it started. (I talked with the CEO about the time, and he offered that I come for a later training session since there will be more people in that group and they would be on-time since they couldn't possibly have a large group waiting) ...But what about the present people that were ready and willing to learn? I guess the bigger the training group, the more important. Software: This was a joke to me, they gave us software, one was a trial version and the other was cracked. This tested my ethics which is ultimately why I left. I couldn't have the cracked software on my conscience. In addition to this, we had to use Windows for this software, there was one guy who had a Macbook, but they didn't have any loaner laptops for him to borrow. So he had to buy a new computer. Did I mention that you're not paid during training? Ethics: There was some shady things like the software but that wasn't it. I learned through others that already finished the training that when you're interviewing for positions that you're to modify your resume to say that you have at least five years experience. I simply couldn't lie about something like that. So, no paid training, no free lunch, no compassion, and shady practices. I think Ecalix is very smart in what they're doing. They're saving money as best as they can, it's ingenious. But not so good for the potential employees. I kinda got the idea that they prey on foreigners that are currently here on a school visa since my roommates seemed to all be from another country, and I only encountered one other person while at the office that had an American accent, one of which was me. My thought is: if you really need a job, work here but if you think you can find something better, do that. I did.