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    C.S.T. Consultants Reviews

    Updated 20 June, 2017
    11 reviews

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    2.7
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
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    Sherry MacDonald
    2 Ratings

    Employee Reviews

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    1. Helpful (1)

      "Accounts Services Rep"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Scarborough, ON
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Scarborough, ON
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      Pros

      - Great summer opportunity most customer service
      - Opened up new positions for department specific interns if you work for it
      - Learn more about where RESPs come from

      Cons

      - Top heavy management
      - Top mgmt can be political

    2. Helpful (2)

      "IT"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Senior Management
      Former Contractor - IT Consultant
      Former Contractor - IT Consultant
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook

      I worked at C.S.T. Consultants as a contractor

      Pros

      Very friendly and knowledgeable internal employees in IT and very good and professional enterprise architect .

      Cons

      Poor and unprofessional second level management . Try to avoid any business with Manager - consultant D.C. Person seem don't have even basic skills on managing the stuff and very uncomfortable when you asked questions , trying to avoid direct contact/communication . Don't have basic soft skills and only got consultant position because of some relations inside the company. Always trying to hide and speak thru other people .

      Advice to Management

      I woul advice to CEO to review manager skills and professionalism before putting in that position. Internal stuff suffering from D.C. management, heard and was witness of his management . Manager consultant did not show any respect and treat people as sheeps. Do internal surveys to obtaine information about managers from staff confidentially and act appropriately.

    3. Helpful (1)

      "Terrible culture. Come here if you want your career to stall and like be treated like a nobody"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Manager in Toronto, ON
      Former Employee - Manager in Toronto, ON
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at C.S.T. Consultants full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      A small percentage of employees are decent and competent. Good benefits and time off

      Cons

      Management is top heavy. There are more Directors, VP's, Sr. VP's than there are actual employees. People are promoted based on tenure, not on merit and capability. Lots of political stuff and culture is closed minded and staff primarily consists of people who have been there for 20+ years. Lots of pointless meetings for the sake of having meetings. In the time that I was there, I have seen multiple Managers and regular staff terminated. One day they are here. The next day they are gone. No reason given. Tenured staff are aware that the company does a "purge" of staff every November. This is the place you come to if you want your career to go no where, it you want to bang you head against the wall in frustration, and if you want to spend your days trying to get things done, but constantly being stymied. Thought the benefits and salary are above average, it doesn't make up for the fact that Directors and VP's have no direction and focus. And when things do not go as planned, they will throw you under the bus to take the blame. This is the type of place where. The culture is like high school, where Director level people will complain about you to your own Director if you say or do something they don't like. No one has the spine to call out the elephant in the room, in order to actually move ahead to get stuff done and favoritism is rampant. They all want to close their eyes and pretend they aren't part of the problem. Honestly, coming to work here was one of the biggest mistakes of my life

      Advice to Management

      for a company that is less than 100 people, you don't need 50 Directors and Senior Management. Get rid of the people who are just occupying a seat, and wake up. Address the problems you are already aware of and stop pretending it doesn't exist and that you aren't part of it

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    4. "Great opportunity"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Sales in Toronto, ON
      Current Employee - Sales in Toronto, ON
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at C.S.T. Consultants full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      Self employed
      In control of your own income (more you work the more you earn)
      Allows for time with your family

      Cons

      Unstable income if you're not self motivated

    5. "Sales Rep"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Edmonton, AB
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Edmonton, AB
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I have been working at C.S.T. Consultants full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Be your own boss.
      Unlimited earning potential.
      Make your own schedule.
      Amazing bonuses available.
      Most flexible plan for children's education.

      Cons

      Have to keep yourself motivated. Don't get distracted by anything. Hearing no starts to become personal. Each week is a new pay period so there is no guarantee of income

    6. Helpful (1)

      "Customer Representative"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook

      Pros

      People are friendly sometimes.
      On the TTC line.

      Cons

      Managers walks by you like you are invisible
      Get treated like chidren
      Have to pay for parking so TTC is cheaper,

      Advice to Management

      Get rid of alot of managers. The company is top heavy.

    7. Helpful (1)

      "Sales Representative"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Sales Representative
      Former Employee - Sales Representative
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook

      I worked at C.S.T. Consultants full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      You are independant and are helping families save for post secondary

      Cons

      There is no way to become a Branch Manager. Highly political environment. Managers are greedy and have ultimate control. They can take recruits away at any time. Recruiting reps is not worthwhile as there is little reward for the effort and no guarantee to keep the rep as your Mgr can take at any time. Lots of empty promises and bait and switch on commision. Incentive trips are lame and not worthwhile.

      Advice to Management

      This is not a sales driven company that rewards reps or incents them in any way to sell or recruit. Too much power given to branch managers. Many long serving reps leaving this company for all the reasons above. Do not plan a career here. You will be utterly disappointed.

    8. "Account Representative"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Contractor - Account Representative
      Former Contractor - Account Representative
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook

      I worked at C.S.T. Consultants as a contractor (Less than a year)

      Pros

      The position was for a school co-op internship and it was a lot of fun and very "team oriented".

      Cons

      The structure of the business made it so that the customer care department were the bottom feeders of the organization often being treated as workhorses.

      Advice to Management

      Have some humility and treat the staff like equals as well as compensating employees more generously and competitively based on their efforts.

    9. "Great work place - friendly coworkers"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Intern - Accounts Services Representative in North York, ON
      Current Intern - Accounts Services Representative in North York, ON
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I have been working at C.S.T. Consultants as an intern

      Pros

      Friendly co-workers, great company structure, very professional and overall good management

      Cons

      Some managers were very strict and harsh. the pay is also not the highest and must pay for parking as well which will decrease your overall pay

      Advice to Management

      less harsh and strictness. The management should not have such high expectations

    10. "Great company to work at. Has a very positive social mission"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Finance in North York, ON
      Current Employee - Finance in North York, ON
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I have been working at C.S.T. Consultants full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      You are always made to feel that you are trying to help children achieve their goals of attending post secondary education. As a not-for-profit organization our mission is not to maximize someone's stock price but instead to achieve the mission of the organization.

      We have been rated as one of the top 50 small-medium employers in Canada. While we are a smaller company (110 to 120 employees) we have very advance HR policies with twice annual performance reviews and a wellness program.

      While internal promotions are often difficult in a smaller organization, the company does try to improve your skills through training. While I started before this was brought in, I have heard great things about the on-boarding process for new employees.

      The turnover is very low, with a high percent of employees having been here for over 15 years, and several over 25.

      Cons

      As a small company, there isn't a lot of room to move to new roles.