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Garmin Reviews
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Full-timePart-timeApprove of CEO
Clifton Pemble
207 Ratings
Pros
Great work life balance and the benefits are superb (in 50 reviews)
Great benefits, very rewarding work (in 68 reviews)
Cons
Too many meetings with little to no results (in 11 reviews)
The career path of a product support specialist is non-existent (in 18 reviews)
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"Great Technical Experience"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Garmin full-time (More than a year)
Pros
- outdoor lifestyle
- above-average compensation
- excellent benefits and RRSP support
- Active lifestyle
- Interesting productsCons
- flat architecture as an engineer
- some office politics
- difficulty in rising to higher ranksAdvice to Management
- more systematic reviews for skill and professional development / advancement
Garmin 2017-10-09 15:20 PDT![Garmin Logo]()
"Software Engineer"
StarStarStarStarStarRecommendsNeutral OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Garmin full-time
Pros
Progressive environment with the opportunity to work on relevant and very engaging projects. Lots of opportunity to be a part of these projects even as a new grad.
Cons
The moderately low turnover rate means that promotions are slow and getting more responsibility takes a long time even long after you have proved yourself.
Advice to Management
Offer more responsibility to experienced employees and allow them to progress toward where they want to be more quickly.
Garmin 2016-10-13 20:55 PDTHelpful (2)
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"A mixed bag"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Neutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOPros
Challenging and interesting work, for the first 1-2 years. Interns and graduates are relied on to help deliver key projects. Colleagues are friendly and willing to help with questions. There are lots of sports opportunities - often more than one at each lunch time, and the office culture is to take a full hour's break at noon.
Cons
Slow promotions and requirement to fully prove capability before being allowed to move into new roles. Stubborn and inflexible management. Constant work overload. Constant changing of priorities, as events are often elevated to 'emergency' status unnecessarily. If you are not part of the lunchtime sports culture, then you are less likely to be given opportunities. Employees are rarely trusted by management with enough authority to effectively get their jobs done. No annual bonus (you usually get a Christmas turkey).
Advice to Management
Trust your employees more. And let them stretch their wings a little.
Garmin 2016-09-26 07:49 PDT![Garmin Logo]()
"Great Place to Work"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Pros
Get to work on interesting and challenging projects
Cons
The salary isn't the greatest
Garmin 2015-07-17 15:36 PDTHelpful (2)
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"Detached management and few opportunities for career growth, but stable with good work/life balance."
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Garmin full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
Work-life balance is good, and you can generally expect 40-hour weeks unless under special circumstances. Benefits package is comprehensive, which includes stock purchase plan discounts and retirement savings plan contribution matching, as well as impressive dental/paramedical/medical coverage. Recently, training has become more prevalent, though the training may or may not directly affect your career path depending on your job function. Depending on your area of interest, the work can be engaging, and seeing your work make it to market can be rewarding.
Cons
Career growth is "encouraged" but sparse; a stigma is attached to those who move horizontally. Recognition requires abnormal levels of sacrifice and even then is reserved for those already in the spotlight; the problem is compounded by a lack of observation and communication. For a non-military, non-government contract company, communication is particularly opaque and on a need-to-know basis; power and position are maintained through tight control of information in the name of non-disclosure. Collaboration and brainstorming sessions are rare, and the creativity of individual engineers is quashed under senior developers and managers who ultimately enforce their iron rule. Exploration and research with high potential to the company is irrelevant; deviation from the dictated path is generally frowned upon. In some circumstances, engineers in a 'team' work on individual projects with little to no collaboration since communication is seen as a hindrance. The work is repetitive; if you become an 'expert' at something, you'll be doing it for life, even if in different forms; without new challenges or training, your versatility and skills will start to wane. Base compensation is not competitive.
Advice to Management
Management requires more frequent and targeted training; progressive management styles should be preferred over draconian techniques. Management should also take the time to both formally and informally engage their team and promote discussion and collaboration without enforcing heiarchy, and learn to value and leverage the strengths of their individual members. Creativity should be encouraged and rewarded, and management should follow individual creativity closely to see how it can best contribute to the success of the company, even if there is a possibility of the member outgrowing their position. Communication is paramount; egos should be checked at the door and transparency should be promoted. Volunteer information freely, and not only when asked; not just at the highest levels where individuals have little effect, but at all levels, including immediate supervisors. Volunteer targeted specialized training to your employees: their value isn't going to appreciate without some investment by the company. Offer choice and freedom of mobility to your team members; they are ultimately the greatest asset the company has and if neither are offered to them here they will look for choice and freedom of mobility elsewhere.
Garmin 2014-10-10 20:36 PDT![Garmin Logo]()
"Good company to work with."
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Garmin full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Show great value to the employees
Cons
Very large company, hard to move up
Garmin 2013-01-06 13:56 PST![Garmin Logo]()
"Technical Lead Software Engineer"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Garmin full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
Excellent benefits
No dress code
Interesting work
Manager allows independence for work arrival/departure times
No micromanagingCons
I could make more money elsewhere
Kansas is boringGarmin 2017-10-16 15:12 PDT![Garmin Logo]()
"Cartography Technician"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Garmin full-time
Pros
Great working condition, lots of new skills to learn
Cons
It depends on people's long term career plan, career path is limited
Garmin 2017-10-12 20:26 PDT![Garmin Logo]()
"Low stress and comfortable environment."
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Garmin full-time (More than a year)
Pros
The benefits are fantastic and the projects are interesting. It is very rare to put in extra hours. Management listens to the staff.
Cons
Tons of schedule slips and fire fighting. It makes it very hard to stay organized and progress on the origin jammy assigned tasks.
Advice to Management
Work to make deadlines so they do not slip. Help make management and information more accessible to the remote offices.
Garmin 2017-10-08 02:04 PDT![Garmin Logo]()
"Operations Specialist"
StarStarStarStarStarRecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Garmin full-time (More than 8 years)
Pros
Great benefits, amazing culture, great products
Cons
transitioned from worker bee to lot of junior management. Get stuck with status updates rather than execution.
Garmin 2017-09-29 06:57 PDT
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