software engineer

Symantec was my first foray into Information Technology, back in 2011, and it was a leap of faith that I do not regret! The company had a 5000+ strong sales force and we were put through an intense training at Mountainview in California. I met some amazing folks and still speak with some of them to this day. For this position, we were given a structured territory and expected to address all existing/upcoming renewals as well as taking inquiries from partners and their clients through the channel. We had regularly-scheduled one-on-ones with our manager in order to track our progress and were provided with suggestions on how to improve which was very helpful and appreciated. I learned how to independently pull conversations together using my technical pre-sales resources, who were quite busy with their enterprise-level deals, but were alsway willing to lend a helping hand so that we could provide accurate and timely answers to our small and medium business clients. I really enjoyed the bi-weekly sales meetings with the larger team (SMB, mid market and ENT) which usually started off with our country manager bringing the energy to the room and getting us all excited for the following couple of weeks. Q & A allowed us to ask him directly what might be on the agenda in terms of changes or product development, and I found that portion to be very revealing and of great value. What I found quite difficult to accept was the limitations on my smaller team in capping of the opportunities we could address ourselves, as anything over a certain threshold in revenue would have to be passed off. Regardless, I persevered and my particular patch (Quebec and Eastern provinces) brought in the most revenue 3 quarters in a row. I enjoyed all the little extras in terms of benefits and  we would be sent the yearly Worldwide Sales Conference in Las Vegas which was also a treat.

It was a great overall experience during the 11 years I was with Symantec.  I started as a jr. and advanced/developed along the way to higher positions and salary as well.
I absolutely loved the culture and people that I worked with (although a lot of the time it was remote with teammates and bosses out in the US).  It did feel lonely at times working from home though.  However the flexibility was a big factor to continue working at this company.

The technical support team was like a family. Learned to support end users with software issues with various Symantec software packages. The co-workers were some of the best people I have ever worked with, I even to this day keep in contact with them as they became life time friends.

Symantec is a great company if you work in the right organization, the problem is that Saudi Branch Manager is supported by his manager in Dubai and making Lobby.

The technology is good, but onboarding process is very poor in the middle east

The hardest part of working for Symantec is that it requires long hours depending on the department you are in.  Traveling 25-60% of the time might be hard to you especially when you have young children.  Overall, the environment is great and they build team spirit!!!

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Symantec provides an environment where you get out what you put in. There are significant rewards and opportunities for hardwork an dedication. The benefits are significantly better than most companies however the salaries are less then average.

Great hours where you helped customers as you continued to improve your skills. Working as a team helped each day to complete some tasks. Very comfortable work environment allow in to be seated or standing

Very rigid management style and very biased toward employee promotion based on religion, looks, etc.  They do not care if a team member is lagging behind or if someone is taking advantage until you report to HR.  Once report, HR is phenomenal!!!

A very demanding work culture, with heightened expectations from technical staff.  Never a dull week and the need to deal with reasonable pressure from both customers and management.

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