Recommend to a friend
Pros
"Good career opportunities, good work/life balance" (in 119 reviews)
"Need to work from home for something" (in 30 reviews)
Cons
"It used to have a pretty good work-life balance" (in 19 reviews)
"Guidewire is experiencing some growing pains" (in 22 reviews)
- Featured Review
Helpful (7)
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"A True Career Company"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Guidewire full-time (More than 10 years)
Pros
Guidewire is a great company and especially ideal for the career-minded individual. The company is large enough to offer a variety of jobs in all kinds of interesting locations. Even if you never change roles, your job changes and evolves as the company grows, keeping things fresh. This is an exciting time to work in the P&C insurance industry as well. Our customers and our employees are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.
Cons
Things move quickly these days - you either pick up the pace or risk being left behind. This may not be ideal for everyone, but is ideal for those who are up for the challenge.
Advice to Management
Stand by our founding principles - collegiality, rationality, and integrity are so powerful in their execution. They have made Guidewire the company it is today and will carry us forward.
Guidewire 2018-01-15 16:03 PST Helpful (1)
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"Sales"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Guidewire full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
Investment (people & products), innovation, commitment to customer success.
Cons
No 'cons' to speak of at this time.
Guidewire 2018-11-16 10:14 PST![Guidewire Logo]()
"Senior Architect"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
Pros
Great compensation, benefit, and growth potential
Cons
Not strong in project management and methodology
Guidewire 2019-01-13 21:21 PSTHelpful (20)
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"Don't be fooled by the high ratings"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Guidewire full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
Guidewire has been trying to transition to the Cloud for the past few years now which means there are many opportunities and teams where you can work with marketable technologies and grow your career.
Cons
Things are no longer the same at Guidewire. Guidewire used to be a good company which supported flexibility and autonomy. This is why it was such a highly reviewed place here on Glassdoor and won accolades for being one of the best places to work for in the past. It used to have a pretty good work-life balance. However, new mandates are being rolled out right now which are going to change all of that. Before you had the opportunity to work from home every Friday, which gave everyone a break from their commute. This is no longer going to be allowed starting early next year. Also, before you could work flexible hours and dial in to the stand ups from home. Now you have to attend the stand up in-person and be in the office by 9:30 am. Additionally, starting next year everyone will be *forced* to pair with each other. As others have mentioned, in this changing environment manager’s instincts are to micromanage their teams and they have been getting away with it too. I honestly feel really bad for those who are here on work Visas because they have too much to lose to speak up about these changes.
They have also eliminated most of the Senior and above positions and converted them to new grad ones. If I were a new grad I would stay far far away from here. At the very maximum I would just use them to get another offer elsewhere.Guidewire 2018-12-13 21:57 PSTHelpful (3)
![Guidewire Logo]()
"Not as nice as it first appears"
StarStarStarStarStarI have been working at Guidewire full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
Company quick to make hiring decisions, provides competitive starting pay. So if you need a well paying job fast, consider company for short term.
Cons
Middle management very inexperienced, lacks skills and knowledge. Senior management clueless about day to day operations, doesn't seem interested in the general employee base. Limited opportunities to learn new things, knowledge you bring to the company is discounted as not important.
Advice to Management
Provide management training to middle managers. Improve overall management of company.
Guidewire 2019-01-02 11:50 PSTHelpful (6)
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"Top notch leadership, great team mentality, just focus on the big stuff more"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Guidewire full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
-I feel this company is only successful because of our top level leadership.
- Great team mentality/ team feeling... like we are a football team with the best coach. That's a hilarious analogy because I've never played football... but I guess some of us get to experience what that winning, fighting spirit would feel like now, in a geekier way. Personally, I find it incredibly satisfying.
- I don't feel micro-managed. Strong feeling of respect and trust in our leadership and the gals and dudes who manage guys like me only strengthen that feeling . It's a great change from previous scenarios where there is a "hate the boss" mentality. Refreshing, and makes it easier to focus on your work and goals instead of drama.Cons
-I feel this company is only successful because of our top level leadership.
-Too many changes in lower level management.
-Stop trying to hire women just to even out the numbers and be politically correct!! -Hire the person who will do the job best! Women are a great part of our team but sometimes it feels like there is pie chart the management is following to "even out the herd."... then inevitably a change has to be made down the road because they just aren't good enough or have the right technical or people skills for the position.... Just hire the right person for the job, simple as that! Sometimes it will be a man, sometimes it will be a woman, sometimes they will have long hair, short hair, tanned skin, blue skin... let's just focus on the outcomes instead of the aesthetics. This is one theme at Guidewire that is annoying to everyone although nobody can say it in the eye-roll worthy times we are in. I realize this issue is probably everywhere and would be totally inappropriate to express anywhere other than an anonymous review. ... but there it is.... don't be so mousey and politically correct; the focus should be on the SUCCESS of the team and therefore the company, not pleasing the pie chart, personal vendetta or the imaginary PC police who may be secretly judging. Just hire and keep the good people, and the rest will weed themselves out when they can't keep up.
- also, while I'm at it, whoever designed this review format at glass door is a knob. Pros/cons/advice.... it forces you to break it up in a way that gives people less helpful info.Advice to Management
Even though I'm much lower on the food chain, and can't speak from much direct connection, I can say that the general feeling here at my level is that the CEO leads and delivers the collective vision in a way that most of us feel effectively holds the culture and our results together better than any other key feature of the company's operations. I have worked for big household-name tech companies in silicon valley, but the respect, loyalty and dedication found here is incomparable. Every group will have it's whiners and people acting out of insecurity (applies to both men and women)... but the larger collective at GW is a group of highly compatible and driven people. We are a team who wants to win, and it's a good feeling to be a part of it. Highly recommend this place (especially San Fran and Ireland offices- several friends working there love it.) for highly skilled and driven developers. This is not the whiney, mopey , soft-shelled millennial environment... it's a strong and ambitious environment of intelligent like-minded humans on the same mission, with excellent values and work/life balance. I hope to stay for years to come and grow with GW.
My only "advice" is to focus on broader success.. stop sweating the small stuff and focus on the big things that we have in front of us! We can do this... I know I speak for at least my immediate handful of co-workers and friends here.Guidewire 2018-10-28 10:51 PDT![Guidewire Logo]()
"Sales"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Guidewire full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
Hands down the people and the culture at Guidewire differentiate this company from any other organization I've ever worked at. It is a special place with incredibly dedicated, smart, and hard-working individuals. The strong culture and team mentality keep individuals here despite the fact that they can easily leave for more visible roles elsewhere. This is one of the best and most unique organizations (especially on the business side) in software.
Cons
Very tenured senior and middle management team make career opportunities and speed of advancement difficult, regardless of talent. Growing pains and the transition to a full cloud company can be difficult due to the lack of transparent strategy.
Advice to Management
Let the layer of middle management take on more responsibility. There are some very talented people beneath the management team level that should be allowed to help drive current initiatives. Need to look at internal investment in people and tools.
Guidewire 2018-11-12 22:26 PST![Guidewire Logo]()
"Architect"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Guidewire full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Excellent team and good work culture
Equal opportunitiesCons
Some Processes need to be improved
Guidewire 2018-11-19 12:35 PSTHelpful (3)
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"A stable workplace"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Guidewire full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
Industry leader in the property and causality insurance space. Stable.
Cons
Most of the work I have done is not what I would describe as interesting or challenging.
Guidewire 2018-11-02 12:00 PDT![Guidewire Logo]()
"UX Designer"
StarStarStarStarStarI worked at Guidewire full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Guidewire cares greatly for its employees. Strong values and culture.
Cons
Nothing to complain about here.
Guidewire 2018-10-23 21:22 PDT
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