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Great development culture, honest people, and great management/leadership

Software Development
Current Employee
Has worked at Guidewire for 2 years
October 17, 2014
Foster City, California
5.0
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

Feeling of appreciation for what you do, even as an individual contributor. That means a lot.

Successful company, successful paying customers, stable industry (insurance) with deep pockets.

Honesty and integrity go a long way. There's no lying to customers about what the product does.

Great development teams.

Work-life balance. Yes, I sound like everyone else writing reviews here, but it really is true. There is just no pressure on me to work all the time. You work hard, but don't feel like you have pressure to be a workaholic or sit in the office all the time or be on email all the time.

Free food. Lots. But you may gain weight. They seem to like sharing cakes, donuts, and lots of bagels all the time. Plus, they have pizza on Fridays for Thirsty Thursday.

Nice scenic views of northern Silicon Valley.

First exit off the San Mateo bridge (going west). A bit of a relief for the people in the East Bay.

Friendly people.

WAH (Work at Home) once per week. Nice policy. Not more, not less. Once per week. This is the 21st century, people. Thank you, Guidewire, for not following Yahoo!.

People are quiet, don't play political games, are serious about their work, and produce quality results. Substance over style.

Cons

Long commutes for people in San Jose, East Bay, or North Bay, and commuting seems to get worse as time goes on (in the last few years).

No ability to plug in your EV (Electric Vehicle) in the building's parking lot or nearby buildings (to my knowledge).

Foster City can be a strange, boring place with not many good restaurants or lunch places near the office.

Some HR staff are less than helpful, responsive, or knowledgeable.

A bit of aloofness from "veteran" employees. So watch out, new hires; they may look down their nose at you. (But isn't this true of any software company?)

Finding information on products/features can be a challenge.

Advice to Management

Thank you for sticking to your principles and making this a great place to work with great products and picking a great industry to serve.

Thank you for paying employees well.

Thank you for serving a good industry that is doing well for the world.

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