gTeam FZ Reviews
58% would recommend to a friend
(18 total reviews)
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Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "During the last 3.5 years I have been involved with the most technically demanding and innovative projects throughout my whole career." (in 1 reviews)
- "Then some Chinese company put 100 people through the trial with absolutely terrible submissions just to make the 100 x 3 days pay, so management put a stop to that." (in 3 reviews)
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Found 18 of over 26 reviews
Updated Nov 17, 2018
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- 5.0Aug 12, 2014Chief ArchitectCurrent Employee, more than 1 yearFort Worth, TX
Pros
I love being able to work from home, or a coffee shop, or while visiting extended friends/family in a different country, etc. There is no office to work in, which changes the culture dramatically. At IBM, for example, a few people were remote, so they missed all of the hallway conversations or the impromptu architecture discussions at lunch, etc. At gTeam, everybody is remote, so there's nothing to miss. All of our whiteboards are virtual and we eat lunch with our families in our own kitchens. Honestly, the pay is pretty great too. I suspect my previous employers paid a similar amount for me, including buildings, keeping the lights on, HR staff, company events, computers, various perks, etc. But now all of that money goes to me, and I don't need to beg somebody for a better laptop or nicer chair. This is a much better system. I also like the freedom I'm given. Granted, I have a senior job in management, but I'm never forced into stupid architectures or deploying on some silly mainframe/Winblows like I've had to deal with at other companies. Perhaps said another way: the political BS seems very low here. We only argue about what's best for our clients, not about angering some VP/vendor somewhere. I know some people see this as a con, but I love it that they don't keep under performers. You can't suck and stay here. You can make mistakes, that's fine, but you can't keep making the same mistakes over and over.
Cons
I sometimes miss going out for greasy burgers with folks on Fridays. If I had a magic wand, I'd make the recruiting process a little more fair for people who don't get hired. I see that some people here think gTeam gets free work out of people in the Trial phase of the recruiting process. I can clear that up - that's absolutely not the case. They get senior people to solve the coding challenges and then compare incoming recruits to the known answers. There's nothing part of the trial that they don't already have a database of answers for. With that said, people who don't pass the 3 day trial don't get paid. Years ago, they used to pay every candidate. Then some Chinese company put 100 people through the trial with absolutely terrible submissions just to make the 100 x 3 days pay, so management put a stop to that. There needs to be a middle ground though. On that same token, because this company's completely virtual, they get 10x more con-artist trying to steal money than any company I've ever seen. I can understand that - it's more tempting when you don't have to walk in the building and let people get to know you. The downside is that gTeam has much higher security standards, which naturally get in the way sometimes. I can't blame them for it, but it is annoying.
- 5.0Aug 4, 2014Project ManagerCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsIndianapolis, IN
Pros
I started working with gTeam three years ago, my spouse was relocated and I had to resign after working 10 years for a 500 Fortune public company. Very challenging environment, things mover 10 times faster that in an ordinary organization, personally it has been a great learning and professional experience.
Cons
Long and tough selection process, I had to complete a 5 day simulation. Also the guys you interact with during trial are not so helpful nor friendly.
3 - 1.0Jul 9, 2015Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee
Pros
Ah, the promises! If nothing else, one gets an emotional high from those...
Cons
Absolutely everything else-the testing (and lack of a concrete measurement program by which can understand. Completely arbitrary in measurement, across the board. Management acts as though they trained under the Nazis-no understanding of anything resembling respect to an employee. The list is too long for me to waste more time, here. I seriously warn anyone lured by their promises. It sounds too good to be true-and it is-it IS!!
1 - 1.0Feb 2, 2014Software EngineerFormer Employee, less than 1 yearAustin, TX
Pros
The hours are somewhat flexible.
Cons
They fire people on a whim. They also continually fire the bottom 20-30% of workers. Managers encourage unpaid overtime. Your work is monitored via webcam. Some managers are verbally abusive. Crunch-time is non-stop.
12 - 1.0Sep 9, 2015Fullstack DeveloperFormer Employee, less than 1 year
Pros
- Remote location - Payment is weekly - A lot of promises
Cons
- They are absolutely unorganized. I was added to a project and there was no briefing, all I was told was that we were cloning an existing product. Before I knew it, I was getting task notifications. - The remote location stuff is actually a myth. The Times are not as flexible as they say. For example, my team had meeting every day. And we had a compulsory meeting on Tuesdays - The time tracker monitors everything, I had absolutely no peace of mind. I was more concerned about being I'm front of the system when the tracker captures my picture than solving the tasks I was assigned. - I was fired because the output for my first month on the job was the lowest. I was the new guy on the team and they expected me to outperform the other guys who were there at the beginning. - in all. It's the worst job I've ever done. Forget the positive reviews, they are most likely doctored reviews rather than voluntary ones.
2 - 4.0Aug 25, 2014Technical Fellow, Software ArchitectCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsKaraganda
Pros
1. 100% telecommute - you choose the place to work; be it your home, a hotel in Reykjavík, a cabin on Atlantic shore. Work progress is tracked using competent platforms (i.e. oDesk). Someone may find it outrageous that "they track your every keystroke". But let's be reasonable - your manager is several thousands miles away and he needs to know what does he exactly pay for. And aforementioned tracking platforms prove their efficiency in such case. 2. Mostly flexible work schedule - you choose when to work. There's general rule to work 30+ hours per week (all paid, even if you overtime) and some fixed times for meetings and stuff. Other than that, you are free to arrange your work time as you wish. I usually keep some tasks for the weekend - to work in calm and concentrated atmosphere. 3. Compensation is simply great comparing to local market and quite competitive comparing to international freelancing. Talking about benefits, there's of course no dental insurance, no gym subscription, etc. - which is normal considering telecommute contract. 4. In some way, there's a great field for personal and professional growth. You see, it all depends on your performance and commitment. If you strive to be better, faster, stronger for your personal benefit and benefit of your company - you will certainly find a plenty of opportunities to accomplish this. I personally mastered two new platforms from scratch and performed in various roles, on various projects. 5. Great cultural diversity. We're human beings after all, and it's cool to talk on various topics be it Chinese cuisine, European heritages, Icelandic volcanoes, etc. Special remark. After my first half a year of hard work I received a NY gift right from CEO - brand new iPad, latest model! Yay! Now you tell me they don't treat employees respectfully? :)
Cons
The only flaw I see is staffing model. It all starts with classical "stack ranking" - constantly assess employees, stack them according to their productivity and periodically fire the bottom 20% of (low) performers. This cycle never ends and there's always open positions for demanding projects. The problem is that entry conditions, especially for positions with lower pay rates, are not strict enough. It is relatively simple to get through initial screening, tests and assignments. Now imagine that company spends quite some time and effort to ramp a new employee up and prepare him for real work. And then after several weeks (of such "paid internship") finds out that this employee is totally incompetent. This is especially harmful for technical leads and project owners as this affects general productivity and release schedule. At the same time fired employees (usually those showing constantly low performance or even fraudulent behavior) not always have adequate understanding of why they have been fired. For some reason they keep thinking that they are such great guys and company owes them something. :)
8 - 5.0Mar 1, 2013Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
Working at gTeam gives me the freedom that I have never had with other traditional companies. It is work that comes to me through internet and not me that goes to work, avoiding the stress of traffic, saving time to spend with my family and having the flexibility of managing my own hours as I want. The biggest advantage as manager is that while travelling around the world I can work from anywhere at any moment. Being at home but at the same time in continuous contact with other team members worldwide enriches me culturally and humanly.
Cons
Which kind of people would not work for gTeam? Those that are not ready to face the challenges of a freelance job that offers flexibility.
- 1.0Dec 18, 2014QA EngineerCurrent Employee
Pros
There is nothing "Pro" about this company.
Cons
The hiring process is very long, and you have a lot of task and test to test + the actual interview with a so called "HR representative" . You have a trial period, one that in case you pass, they offer a bonus. I was hired and they ask me to quit my ,then, current job, as they need people for full time jobs. After this, nothing for months. I didn't get my initial bonus, and I was not given anything to work on. Each time I was contacting someone from the HR department, I was told to wait a few more days, or my emails have not been replied at all. Very very disappointed with them, totally unprofessional behavior.
2 - 5.0Aug 17, 2014Technical Account ManagerCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsAthens, Athens, Attica
Pros
1) Long term working relationship - 100% on time payments. I have been employed by gTeam FZ for the last 3.5 years as a contractor for the role of Technical Account Manager. I am being paid from the moment I started working till today through the oDesk platform on a weekly basis. Never once has my payment been delayed for even a single day throughout this period. 2) Innovative projects - Highly demanding technical tasks If you are the kind of software engineer looking for real challenges, then gTeam FZ is the place to work. During the last 3.5 years I have been involved with the most technically demanding and innovative projects throughout my whole career. I got the chance to participate in several innovative projects and be part of the team that drove them from the design docs to production. Those are valuable experiences I will carry with me through the rest of my Career. gTeam FZ is a rapidly changing world, trying always to stand out from rest of the completion and push the efficiency frontier of through innovation. 3) Pay rates. Pay rates are in general good, although they are flat and potentially not very attractive if you come from a country with a high cost of living. 4) Diversity in people, gain experience in organizing and connecting with different mindsets, working habits, cultures. gTeam FZ is a working environment with high diversity as it employees contractors from around the globe. In this virtual office one has the chance enrich own experiences with an innovative new way of collaborating remotely. The tools and processes being used to connect all these individuals together is an invaluable experience no other physical company can offer. 5) Location Free - Virtual office hosted on Cloud offers you all the hardware you need. gTeam offers to its employees all the hardware required to work in a cloud environment. Just get your laptop, travel and work remotely from any place. Work from your country house, from home, combine traveling and working abroad. There are no strict and specific hours you need to work. Of course you will have to attend scheduled meetings with your colleagues, but besides that you are free to work any time you wish.
Cons
1) Flat hierarchy, lack of long term career path. gTeam FZ is maybe not the easiest path, if you are the type of person who wants to build a Career and invest a lifetime in a single company. Although many would suggest that if one wants to build a career, jumping around from one company to another at regular intervals is a must, there are a few firms out there who potentially offer you a real career path. Unfortunately gTeam is not one of them. The company's flat hierarchy does not leave many spots for getting promoted or getting a raise. gTeam is an excellent step in your career path which will offer you new experiences and knowledge, but it is a step. If you wish to advance eventually you will have to seek for new opportunities. 2) Lack of bonuses, paid vacations, other benefits. Don't expect a car, a cell phone, a bonus or paid vacations. gTeam offers you an hourly contract based on which you are being paid. If you don't work for any reason, you will not get paid for that time of period. Completing a project successfully on time does not also mean that you will get a bonus. You will not also get other benefits, like a cell phone, a tablet, etc... but no one actually expects you to use your phone while working in gTeam.
2 - 5.0Aug 11, 2014Software EngineerCurrent Employee, more than 1 yearSoúda
Pros
The flexible hours, the salary, stable payment schedule, challenging environment that provide a lot of professional work experience. You need to be very committed in order to work for a long time with this company.
Cons
Hard selection process to get hired with lots of tests and trial period.
5
gTeam FZ Reviews FAQs
gTeam FZ has an overall rating of 3.1 out of 5, based on over 26 reviews left anonymously by employees. 58% of employees would recommend working at gTeam FZ to a friend and 59% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.
58% of gTeam FZ employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated gTeam FZ 3.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.2 for culture and values and 2.9 for career opportunities.
According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at gTeam FZ to be diversity and inclusion, coworkers, culture and the cons to be management, benefits, career development.
