Verisign Reviews

Pros

Good pay and benefits package, industry brand, decent work life balance for engineering teams, relatively stable job situation now after major divestitures

Cons

politically charged culture, low appreciation and no reward for going beyond regular duties, stale ideation with a large % of long-timers

Advice to Senior Management

Improve recognition for good work, promote and reward exceptional performance to improve meritocracy, introduce 360 degree reviews to truly implement people first culture and deter autocratic managers

Pros

Solid, large company that felt like a small company at times. Office autonomy was nice. Not stingy with equipment or donuts.

Cons

Always striving to make a profit. Not clear that certain managers had the competence to do their jobs. But they were "legacied" in, so they were there forever. It's a "tenure" envirornment.

Advice to Senior Management

Make some effort to visit and listen to the rank and file at each office. Heck, we didn't even have an HR rep in our office. [Not that that was a bad thing! Just an indication of "we don't really matter."] Do that by actually stopping in the cubicles of random employees, not by listening to the office managers and directors.

Pros

stability, excellent benefits, employee stock purchase plan usually ends up being profitable. Good internal communications program. Smart and talented people.

Cons

risk-averse culture, slow to change. management that has been entrenched for years can be very resistant to change and progress.

Advice to Senior Management

Offer more ways for "underlings" to provide feedback and be truly heard. A lot of things are done the same way over and over again without regards to progress.

Pros

Great benefits, lots of internal job opportunities, good training programs

Cons

Constant reorganization and restructuring; many layers of management

Advice to Senior Management

Stop the random acquisition of companies that don't complement VeriSign's core competencies.

Pros

1. Good ESPP.
2. Friendly colleagues.
3. Nice manager for me.
4. Interesting and just in time training.
5. Vacation is good.

Cons

1. Mediocre executives although the founder is awesome.
2. Slow Green Card applications.
3. Losing direction in production development.
4. Weak sale forces.

Advice to Senior Management

Should hire a better CEO instead of finding a people inside. Better stop buying real-estate higher and selling it low.

Pros

Position had competitive salary. Opportunities for growth were good. ESPP option was good. Coworkers were mostly skilled and courteous. Job security.

Cons

Benefits package wasn't competitive, we were using benefits provided by my spouse's startup instead. Background check before starting was too long and wasn't co-ordinated well.

Advice to Senior Management

Stock price has been languishing in low 20s after having gone north of 40. Need to find ways to improve the stock price

Pros

Good Pay and time off, and benefits - that's it.

Cons

Slow to change, no direction, and no team meetings from manager. You are on your own in this company... Unprofessional overall but they do pay well.

Advice to Senior Management

Go back to business school!

Pros

Good benefits -- 401K, fitness reimbursement, lactation program, reasonable amount of paid holidays.

Cons

There aren't any really big cons to working here. The pay isn't at the top of the market, but it is not at the bottom of the market either.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work.

Pros

Very good work. Even the starters get the main core work. Get praises when good work is done. As company strength is less, you get more benefits.

Cons

Some old products are still maintained. Some new interesting stuff has to be created and new comers have to be placed among those projects.

Advice to Senior Management

Introduce new or interesting stuff related projects and make new comers to work in those projects. Add some more benefits or personal development programs apart from usual work.

Pros

Go-getters can make their own career
Plenty of training opportunities
Good benefits and pay

Cons

Telecom Division, where I worked, was constantly up for sale
Layoffs every December justs before Christmas

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on a vertical and exploit the heck out of it. Many strong employees could have been used in different divsions after most recent sale.