Zscaler Reviews

Cons

Cannot think of one cons

Cons

If a company has Palo Alto it's very hard to move them off. Netskope seems to be comparable in a lot of ways. Everything is measured - how many calls you take, how many emails, how long you're on the computer. I was working nights and weekends often. They're operating like a start up but they're already public - very intense. Sales cycle can be very long (over a year) if you're not jumping into an active cycle started by someone else who left. It was a lot of work with little reward. Too many sales reps in territory with not enough accounts. Seasoned sales reps making a ton of PG calls. Internal calls weekly to see who you sent outreach to and who got back to you. Marketing and events budget was weak. Very male dominated - every call was "bro talk" but they were very respectful overall. Stock went down dramatically from when I joined so my options were cut in half and the way they addressed it was to add stock if you stayed another year. They said they were "in the boat" with you but my manager was barely available because he was focused on hiring and dealing with reorgs and changes.

Cons

This is the worst company I have ever worked for. The CEO is a tyrant who fires anyone who doesn’t agree with him…he makes impossible demands and no one stands up against him because he will terminate anyone that does. They overload you with work and don’t take medical situations into play. The workload is insane and everyone wants to quit but the RSUs keep us. Dir.+ above don’t know what’s going on and just pile their team with work. Oh and if you have feedback for another team that can actually benefit the customers - forget it. It won’t be taken seriously. Also, this company is so cheap. I was once put in a hotel in a really shady area (only hotel that met the budget restrictions) and my coworkers who lives locally made me come stay at their house bc they were terrified for my safety. My colleague was once put in a hotel in Mexico when his meetings were in Texas…Counting the days til I can leave this place (and so are my coworkers). It’s a shame because the customers are so wonderful.

Cons

Product management and most of engineering leadership sucks. They exist to tout their egos and get promoted by kissing a** with the CEO. Just having namesake ERGs does not make you a 'best place to work'. They are all pay to play awards. The same leaders mock those in the ERGs like the women's group or the Pride group and think of it as a checkbox item.

Cons

Work/life balance is terrible, don't let the lip service paid by upper management to it fool you. I'm pulling 50+ hr/weeks and that's not even close to enough. Training and onboarding was really rushed for me - I'm having to teach myself product capabilities while I'm mid-pov with customers. Upper management is very out of touch with asks made of individual contributors. Most recent examples being ~40 hrs of training for all SEs with less than a months notice to get completed (while still being expected to continue the normal job).

Cons

None. Be prepared to work hard as this is an intense work environment but the reward is well worth it.

Cons

Sales management is insane. Notoriously cheap (won't comp Internet access even though you are required to work from home - reason? you have it anyway / lol) Micro-management

Cons

If you’re an experienced seller, proving sales process compliance can be overwhelming and distracting. Sometimes it feels like you’re being “over coached”, making your selling motion less fluid. Mid level sales “leaders” micromanage, try to “stump” reps in an attempt to demonstrate expertise and insist on unnaturally engaging with the customer.

Cons

If you are an EXPERIENCED FIELD Engineer / Professional Services or Account Manager of any discipline? AVOID Zscaler's "TAM" role like the plague. It has nothing to do with Account Management. It is nothing more than a glorified Tech Support rep with dedicated clients. This is NOT what a TAM should be doing. Account Managers should never be working BAU turn-and-burn tech support cases. If you are an existing Tech Support rep who is attracted to the "Account Manager" title? You'll still be doing tech support, but again, this has nothing to do with account management. And if you ever move into a real account management role? You'll be blindsided by how it really works. Zscaler's TAM role is nothing more than a bait-and-switch. My experience with them was short lived, and after it became painfully clear what this company was about, at this level? I walked away. I brought 20+ years field and client experience into that company working directly with Directors and C-Suite executives, as well as everyone from data-center and infrastructure union staff, to SOC/NOC staff and Operations Engineers. The company, and my abysmal "team" spoke at me (not TO me... AT me) as if I was some junion level tech rep. It was insulting and a constant demonstration of their ignorance about field work and in-person client engagement. None... NONE of the TAM staff, nor TAM managers, have EVER been face-to-face with clients. They had NO field experience, and the way they carried themselves demonstrated it constantly. They are, again, nothing more than tech support reps, with an ego. Training is a joke. It looks incredibly impressive when it's laid out on paper and your agenda. But then you realize, you're going to watch videos of a "trainer" who is doing nothing more than literally reading from a PDF - which you download as part of that training. There is no lab nor hands on during this phase of "training". You just watch and listen to some guy read your PDF and explain some examples. WHEN you finally get to any kind of LAB? That too is a joke. It's a former TAM who is now a trainer, walking you thru some scenarios for support. Although you DO get to go "hands on" with their security suite. Eventually you DO get to a real hands-on lab for their 4 core products AND this one is actually decent. But it's the final step after you've droned out over weeks of prior useless "training". This final training SHOULD have been what you got from the start, and it SHOULD have been at least 1 week hands-on per product. Let's talk about the "account managers" and your treatment. I've done 20+ years ProServe and Client Engagement/Client Management. I've worked with Senior Sales and Client Executives for global clients. NOT ONCE did the client engagement team reach out to me. I found that surprising, until I realized it was because they expected you to be nothing more than a tech support rep. In fact, during "training" one of them actually jumped down my throat because I wasn't "learning" my role to his satisfaction. WHO DOES THAT in a professional environment? The sheer arrogance and ignorance was appalling. I did not join Zscaler to be a glorified tech support rep. I did not expect the condescending attitudes or treatment. I did not expect the role to be a bait-and-switch. I was the 4th person to quit that company within 4-6 months, during our onboarding training. Each of us who quit, left because we realized what this really was, and it was, bluntly, beneath our experience. One of the guys I asked, when he quit, said simply "I got a better deal" and he left within 6 weeks. I would never again touch Zscaler with a 10 foot pole, and I will make it a point, to recommend other ZTNA providers over them, in all my future engagements.

Cons

-No company is perfect. While we continue to grow we need to continue to evolve technology, policies and procedures - but it's important we not get hung up on areas of improvement, but rather focus on what is transforming and how it will impact and define the future of the company, something each of us will play a part in.