Smart people, toxic culture - Security Consultant (Pen Tester) Coalfire Employee Review

2.0
Sep 27, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

— Looks decent on the resume — Ability to learn from very intelligent individuals — Bundles with excellent benefits

Cons

They continue changing our job description and obligations. Bosses tell me their set of responsibilities peruses that they manage a group of Consultants but they simply need you to sell work. You can do whatever you like as long as you're selling more. We have a toxic culture that is more in accordance with a fraternity. Ladies will have a hard time working in Labs. Their total absence of diversity is clear, and young white men are given genuine chances. The training spending budget would not cover the majority of sought after hacking courses. A few teams have a "famous students in school" attitude, and your standing with favored individuals is favored over your work quality.

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Coalfire Response
5y
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We wanted to address some of the concerns you shared and encourage you to reach out to your manager, a member of our Human Resources team, or our AskMeAnything mailbox to discuss further. Staying current with industry trends is critical for us to take advantage of new business opportunities and ensure our business is both efficient and innovative. Our teams are constantly evaluating everything from our corporate strategy to our organizational structure and individual roles to ensure we’re focused on the right things as we shape our strategic plans across a dynamic cybersecurity landscape. As our clients’ needs change, or new cyber threats emerge, we may ask team members to learn new skills or support new initiatives to best position ourselves to help our customers. Many on the Coalfire team enjoy the opportunity to try new things, expand their skillsets, and gain experience across a variety of areas. Coalfire is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture. A big part of this involves hiring diverse team members, but we also aim to ensure we are supporting our team members at all stages of their career journey. We partner with organizations like Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS), participate in career fairs at HBCUs, and target diverse job boards to reach candidates who may not find the Coalfire careers page otherwise. We are also working hard to ensure that both formal and informal development opportunities across the company are fair, equitable, and available to everyone. Change does not happen overnight, but we firmly believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging to ensure Coalfire is a place where everyone can learn, grow, do their best work, and have the resources available to achieve their full potential.

Explore other reviews about Coalfire

5.0
Jun 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits, variety of job functions and service offerings Excellent organizational and management structure Highly intelligent and effective workforce

Cons

Competitive hiring process due to quality of talent the company attracts.

3.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Real client-facing technical work in regulated/FedRAMP environments; good exposure if compliance-heavy cloud is your lane. - Internal mobility exists on paper; managers may encourage internal candidates for promotions. - New management clearly understands their assignment and is saying the right things and taking initial steps that appear to be moving us towards a strong path forward.

Cons

- Promotion paths can be unstable; roles may get restructured mid-process, which makes career planning hard. - Management quality is uneven; promotion into management isn't always tied to demonstrated leadership, technical capability, or appropriate vision. - Limited structured professional development. - Compensation progression can be a friction point, including for internal moves. - Bonus payouts have come in far below target even for top performers, which has been rough.

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