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Attention juniors / entry-level: Don't accept the offer

Data Engineer
Former Employee
Worked at Fortinet for 4 years
January 16, 2022
Burnaby, British Columbia
1.0
Doesn't RecommendDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros
  1. RSUs and salary: The salary is just barely on par (and even a bit lower) with competitors', but the RSUs are what really get you.

  2. Since Fortinet is such a large company with a generally good public impression, you will encounter some skilled engineers. If you are lucky and make the initiative, you may get to work and learn from them.

  3. Some people are nice.

Cons

I worked at Fortinet for over 4 years. I wish I had better things to say, but I do not.

I generally agree with the points made by other reviewers about the language biases, archaic methods, and mismanagement.

If you are reading this and wondering whether you should accept an offer from Fortinet, my suggestion is: Don't (especially if you are entry-level or junior).

With the exception of very (and I stress very) few teams, Fortinet does not provide good mentorship nor teach you industry practices that will develop your engineering skills. On the contrary, it may even hinder your development as an engineer.

Upper management sees you as numbers that fill spots. They will reorg you with very little notice (less than a week) and provide no reason for it. If you want to move laterally, animosity among teams and general disapproval from upper management will often result in a rejected request.

Product management is a mess: there is little cohesion between product management and the engineering departments.

Team management is unprofessional. I have seen the extremes of micromanagement to no management at all. Managers may neglect communication with their own team members, from a month all the way to six months (!?) without a word.

From all the teams I have been in and interacted with, I would say 95% of them do not follow most engineering best practices:

  • No designing
  • No testing
  • No software development lifecycle in place
  • Little communication
  • Little investment in modern software development tools

Please take it with a grain of salt, as all this above was either my own experience or of those that I witnessed while at this company.

Advice to Management

Live by your values if you are going to set them as company values.

Invest in your employees and software practices. Train managers and team leads properly.

Additional Ratings

Work/Life Balance
3.0
Culture and Values
1.0
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
1.0
Career Opportunities
1.0
Compensation and Benefits
3.0
Senior Management
1.0

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