BlackBerry Reviews in Canada

Current Employee – been working at BlackBerry as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – very good place to gain experience. very multicultural. values interns.

Cons – very corporate culture. hierarchies makes it feel achieving is impossible.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at BlackBerry as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – Good place to work. Environment is friendly.

Cons – I hope Z10 and Q10 picks in the Market

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at BlackBerry for more than a year

Pros – Great people, lots of innovation

Cons – At the time too many layers of approval to do things, seems to have changed

Former Employee – worked at BlackBerry as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Very good work culture with good benefits

Cons – Redundant work, not much improvement in career

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at BlackBerry as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Since the launch of brand new operation system BlackBerry 10, the company is getting better. Most developers work on the new OS. Also the working atmosphere in the office is great.

Cons – The company went down in last few years and some customers may feel negative about the company and its products.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at BlackBerry full-time for less than a year

Pros – One of the best work environments I have ever been a part of. Youthful, energetic, which a huge focus on innovation and learning. Absolutely great place for anyone young to start their careers. There's a big focus on employee satisfaction.

Cons – Bit too much work creeps into your off hours / weekends. And while the company is well organized on the R&D side from the project management and developer teams down, there seems to be an excessive number of executive VPs, SVPs and CEs. Definitely feels they could cut a layer of senior management out.

Advice to Senior Management – Look to reduce top-heavy structure (at least in R&D).

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at BlackBerry full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great challenge. Diverse work place with many knowledgeable and influential people. Compensation was adequate and many like minds to share ideas with.

Cons – Silos within the business that complicates how quickly work is completed. A lot of confidential tape to fight through when trying to get things done.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at BlackBerry full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Excellent Benefits and Pay. Immediate mgt really cares about their people.

Cons – Processes are poorly designed or just plan broken. No mechanism to get them change. Has improved since reorganization. Caused serious problems with getting things done. Training freezes put onus on you to keep your technical skills up on your own time.

No communication happening on restructuring efforts. Outsourcing starting to creep into and wipe out depts.

Advice to Senior Management – Kingdom building was a real problem before the shake up. Things appear much improved with new mgt at the helm.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at BlackBerry full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great people to work with . Compensation at top of scale for Ottawa.

Cons – Layoffs, management disengagement and detachment .

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at BlackBerry full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – When i started at RIM, managers/VPs had an open door policy and the success of the company relied on everyone that worked there. Everyone worked hard and the rewards were unbelievable. RIM was the company to beat. We were unstoppable. The longer i worked there, and the larger the company got they got more and more management heavy by the month. Those that were there the longest and had the most friends got promoted, not by skill and dedication. It was all about who you were friends with. At one point when i queried on why i wasn't being promoted when i was working 72hr weeks and giving the company every thing i got, i was told "It's not how hard you work, it's who you know. You need to network more." Who has time to network when you're trying to accomplish 6-8 large scale projects on time, under budget, and in scope When one of my projects was in jeapordy of becoming severely behind schedule because of the program manager being MIA for weeks, i tried to escalate to my director (who was one of their close friends and I was sternly told "keep your mouth shut, your head down and let it go. You don't want to p#$$ off the wrong people here...get me?" After that I gave up trying to shine and be promoted...as many did. I did my work to the best of my ability but no longer volunteered to take on additional tasks/projects. I knew i couldn't win. There was no point in trying to finish my project on time, budget and scope. Senior management didn't care if we didn't make our timeline. The kicker of my story...that program manager kept his job during the layoffs and i was let go?!

Cons – I started at BlackBerry when the company was still known as RIM and still growing. As the company continued to grow larger and ex AT&T senior management was hired the company began to mistreat it's employees in a BIG way. The staff called it RIMT&T. Many were afraid (and still are) to speak up to the inefficiencies to try and make things better and run more smoothly. Those that tried to speak up and make things better were walked out during the layoffs. Those that are/were yes men were kept. The ones that stayed were the ones "praying" to be packaged and NEVER work a full day or week. One bragging how she "worked" pool side for the entire summer, not even coming in to office once in two months, while the rest of us were walked out. One of the BEST companies I ever had the privledge of working for had taken a major nose dive in morale. The worst part is, to this day I still celebrate the companies successes and secretly cheer them on even after severely been thrown to the curb like mere garbage. I've even tried to reapply for the same job I previously held and can't even get an interview. I get emails saying that candidates with more experience and skills have been selected for an interview.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue getting rid of the top management AT&Ters. RIM/BlackBerry is too senior management heavy and staff are literally terrified to speak up about ways to make processes better or inefficiencies. Bring back the manager/employee open door policy with no fear of honesty. Bring RIM/BlackBerry back to its former glory that many of us (that were thrown to the curb like utter garbage) were so very proud to be a part of. Thorsten promised that the companies brought in to audit the departments would find the inefficiencies. What a crock. Tons of good, extremely hard working people lost their jobs, homes, vehicles, etc. while those that were praying for packages and laughing that they were only in the office for a couple hours a day and that they had already mentally "checked out" months ago are STILL at the newly named BlackBerry. I can't even get an interview for a job that i held and did fantastic according to every single performance review for 9 years. I get emails back telling me that they've chosen a candidate with more experience and a better skillset. Umm sure. Yet still....i love that company and continue to try and go back to try and help the company succeed. I guess that just makes ME the foolish one. :(

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company