Forrester Research Reviews

I have been working at Forrester Research full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great culture, smart people, work/life balance respected above all. Sales people are treated respectfully. You will learn so much, it will position you for success whether you stay or leave to pursue your career elsewhere. Benefits are fantastic!

Cons – Pay is on the low side within the industry. If you are in sales, it's luck of the draw as to whether or not you will get a set of profitable accounts. Not very proactive in terms of content and product training. Must be a self-starter, no hand holding.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop taking on too much too soon. Geo alignment for sales is recommended to foster better client relationships.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Forrester Research full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The work is interesting and focuses on cutting edge, industry leading ideas
Employees are very smart, hard-working, and enthusiastic; and the culture is supportive and collaborative
There is openness to telework and schedule flexibility
There is an established history and focus on growing and advancing people within the company, and encouraging employees to move between different parts of the business.

Cons – There are some growing pains to move to a more efficient, process oriented, scalable way of doing business. In the past, we've been challenged by attempts to implement too much change too quickly, though that issue has been recognized and better addressed by management in the last 6-12 months.

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

I have been working at Forrester Research full-time for less than a year

Pros – New sales leaders have provided new direction, strategy and energy into the salesforce
Products and services and highly respected in the industry
Senior leadership seems humble about past mistakes
The events have been upgraded both in terms of content and style
Dramatic increase in interest from the market in working here

Cons – Some legacy employees still affected by past two years of underperformance

Advice to Senior Management – Keep making changes that are based on input from clients and field personnel versus the boardroom.

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

I have been working at Forrester Research full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Good brand, although deteriorating
Some very helpful people who really want to help the customer
Lots of products/services to sell if you sell to vendors and vendors actually want to buy form Forrester - much easier to be successful
good benefits - especially if you are in Cambridge - but good overall

Cons – below average pay in sales for the complexity and skill you need to do the job
incomprehensibly complex for no good reason
very little courage displayed by management - but plenty of rules
a lot of STICK and not much carrot
legacy "loyalists" get promoted regardless of leadership traits
800 lb Gorilla of a competitor
lots and lots of finger pointing and butt kissing, not a lot of courage

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

I have been working at Forrester Research full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great brand, and great people. Amble support from your local team. Asia expansion plans looks like an interesting opportunity.

Cons – Difficult to work with other teams, often working in silos. Work load is terrible, often working late nights and long weekends with no reward. Pay is incremental by CPI each year until you get promoted.

Advice to Senior Management – Improve collaboration and reward hardworking employees

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

I worked at Forrester Research full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Very smart people that work hard for the client. Sales people are under intense pressure and the company says they look after the clients interests however when quarter end rolls around its all about closing the deal.

Cons – Tough business model, senior management is struggling to find right combination of solutions/products, if you are not from Cambridge then you will be a second class citizen. San Francisco employees and other locations are not treated as well. There is a Cambridge centric thought pattern and also very clubby if you are in Cambridge

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to the employees for once

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

I worked at Forrester Research full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Smart people, supportive culture, interesting work.

Cons – The IT industry often resembles the fashion business. Trends rule.

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

I worked at Forrester Research full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Company has a great reputation that they need to live up to. Good benefits. Sharp analysts, but their availability is limited. Health benefits are excellent, as is vacation and holidays, but there is not enough time to take vacation.

Cons – No work life balance in sales. Revenue has been decreasing so the pressure on sales is amazing with constant updates. Pay is low for the industry. High turnover in sales and analysts for a reason.

Advice to Senior Management – Time for the founder with his outdated ideas to retire.

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

I have been working at Forrester Research full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great place to start career

Cons – Absolutely zero training in core competences.
Culture that encourages analysts (the core business) to be primadonnas
An amateur HR department
Below market pay

Advice to Senior Management – Hire from the outside for senior mgmt.
Middle mgmt should be restructured to be more than a buffer and overhead

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Forrester Research full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great low and mid-level people to work with. Analysts are a bit entitled but mostly good colleagues

Cons – Bad habit of internal promotion as a reward for long service, rather than getting the right person for the job. Evident at higher levels of management in the company, at the director level and above.

Advice to Senior Management – Great analysts do not make great managers or leaders.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend