Research in Motion Reviews in Waterloo, ON (Canada)

Pros

Good salary, exciting industry, good people.

Cons

Lots of silios. Need to know who to go to to get anything done.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the workers once in a while to help steer the company.

Pros

Everything you can think of except a bright future for this company. It has a relax work enviroment, good social events. Management style is very nice.

Cons

The CEO sucks... the share price is going down, so it's better to find another job before getting laid off.

Advice to Senior Management

Please try best to fire the high level managers and VPs, I don't knwo what they are thinking about every day.

Pros

It pays better than most tech sector jobs in Canada. There is mutual respect and fair treatment for all. Great exposure to the industry.

Cons

Little focus on career development. Also negative perception by the North American media. The Playbook failure will hit this company hard.

Advice to Senior Management

It is important to believe in what you sell, but there is a fine line between self-belief and arrogance. Look around you and see how your products compare with some of the other things out in the market.

Pros

- lots of responsibility if you want it
- good benefits
- great people

Cons

- no recognition for job well done, except for more work
- no work life balance
- salary not on par with similar jobs in region
- managers promise promotions and never follow through

Advice to Senior Management

- reward good employees with promotions, not more work

Pros

RIM is a big name -- possibly nice to have on a resume. There doesn't seem to be too much pressure on technical employees.

Cons

The hiring process isn't great, and as a result standards for intelligence aren't too high. It's got a typical big company feel: stuff happens slowly and requires plenty of rubber stamps, the less technical departments are huge, etc.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't hire anyone who doesn't pull their weight. Hire better people (raise salaries/benefits, open shops in other big tech hubs) so that you can be remotely competitive.

Pros

Great industry, amazing technology, room to spread your wings and make a contribution. Customers and partners who care. Headquartered in bedroom community of Kitchener-Waterloo, great mid-sized city ideally placed in Southwestern Ontario.

Cons

Lack of direction. Company doesn't know it's core competences and how to exploit them to its advantage, nor how to address its weaknesses. Too many employees becoming disenfranchised. Some are working on extra-curricular activities on the job - other jobs, degrees, etc.

Pros

friendly enviroment to work with other people;
good place to learn new technology;

Cons

company is facing challengy;
delayed product release;

Pros

-opportunity
-responsibility
-dynamic and fun
-team was very good
-lots of coop students around
-location was good
-campus like feeling in waterloo

Cons

-large company presents poor communication
-growth was too fast
-slowing down now
-a lot of people could not communcate effectively
-experience of employees

Advice to Senior Management

Work with your employees to minimmize the impact of rapid growth. Move towards market leadership by innovating with your employees.

Pros

Most people are very dedicated to their work.

Cons

The management system is disfunctional.

Pros

The overall compensation was very good. The people on the research team were smart and interesting to work with. Socially conscious company.

Cons

Senior management can't decide what direction to take the advanced research in. Research turns into incremental advances that just try to match Apple, instead of real research. Director was not technically strong, and that held back the team.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate better from senior management to the workers. Try to recapture being an innovator instead of an imitator. Let researchers have more responsibility in their work and in the overall direction of the research.