software engineer

senior consultant

consultant

programmer analyst

support associate

1. Research salary market and negotiate your salary accordingly!!! I was lied to in my face by HR and management when I was told that my salary was competitive. I compared my salary with my coworkers who were working fewer hours, had less experience, doing same type of work, and worked with the company 3-4 years less than I did. I found a $15K - $20K difference between my salary and their salaries. If they say your salary is $50K when the market is $70K, you should ask for something closer to $70K. You would think that "Exceeding Expectations" or "Significantly Exceeding Expectations" rating will give you more than a typical 1-2% inflation pay bump. Nope! Be aggressive with pay raise. If you get an EE or SEE rating, but you only get a 1.5% or 2%, then speak up! They will position you into a situation where will be uncomfortable to speak out. Fight that with every fiber of your being and be aggressive.

2. Let's say there is no way that they will give you a competitive salary. If you know that you are being undervalued, then don't give them more than 40 hours a week of your time. Leave your laptop in the office if you can. If you're on-call tally up the hours you worked, send a spreadsheet to your manager, and leave early. Comp time is embarrassingly bad. Not only it's capped to a few days, but they give you the absolute bare minimum for working over 40 hours.

3. Plan your vacations in advance and completely turn off your laptop & phone during vacation. There is a toxic culture at CGI that pressures everyone to take fewer vacations and to bring work with them. Working on vacations will not get your promoted, high salary, etc. Instead you become fodder for management to work you longer and pay you less per hour they get out of you. DO NOT GIVE INTO THIS PRESSURE!!! Vacation time is more of a myth a CGI. You can take vacation, but usually the work hours will just pile up in later weeks. The best measure is to plan your vacation as furthest back as possible allowing management and you to displace work somewhere else.

4. Always keep looking for opportunities. The chances of you getting a promotion at CGI even if you buddy up with management and do everything is very slim.The biggest factor of promotion at CGI is luck. If you're not lucky enough to work with a manager responsible for giving out promotions then you're SOL. You can bring in $600K worth of work that year, regularly work those 80 hour weeks, and the whole nine yards... If you don't work next to a specific manager then you will not see a promotion or a pay raise above inflation. 

5. Document everything you can! There is also problem with middle management at CGI. They are the type of management who think they are technical, but most are not. One example: for years and years, the standard messaging platform... and I kid you not... was AOL Instant Messaging. It took years for management to compromise to a slightly better platform, Skype. Technical folks and management always clash heads despite technical folks actually knowing what they are working with. I have seen projects fall apart and Developers, QAs, BAs. etc being retaliated through terrible performance evaluations. But unfortunately management makes the decisions. The push for "Agile" on most projects is just a facade to let developers, QAs, and BAs think they have a hand in the process when they don't. My advice is to document every email and record important bits on calls.When it's performance evaluation time and if your manager is projecting their terrible decision making skills onto your performance reviews, then you have proof. Just because middle management is above you doesn't make them better than you. If you see this problem in performance reviews that you can back up with meeting audio clips and emails, then 110% show the receipts and SPEAK OUT!

6. The office environment feels like the movie Office Space and this is not an exaggeration. A couple of many examples... One of my coworkers had rated G memes posted on her cubical. HR sent an office wide email not to decorate your cubical walls with memes pointing out those specific rated G memes. One of my friends rolling ball back and forth between empty cubical space on a lunch break. HR scolded at them for doing that. A girl who sits in the way back in notoriously cold area was scolded at for putting a yellow jacket on and violating the dress code despite ZERO clients ever going in that direction of the office. Another guy in the office was told repeatably to tuck his shirt even though 99% of the job is sitting. Despite this weirdly sterile office environment: swearing, yelling, and overall unprofessional behavior are played out unnoticed behind the scenes.

I worked at CGI Federal, based in Virginia. CGI is a great place to start your career because you learn a lot and you learn it fast, mostly because the deadlines are so tight that you have to work late with little regard to your personal commitments or outside work life. I was actually tempted to get a stock image of a child, frame it, and put it on my desk so that coworkers might think I have a valid reason other than wanting some time to myself to pursue other interests outside of work. A lot of people have even referred to CGI as "university" because a lot of people come through the doors after college and leave once they pick up the skills they need to make it at another company that provides better benefits. The starting benefits for new hires is two weeks vacation (unlimited sick time if they still offer it, but to the healthy, this seems almost like a non-benefit). They have an employee stock option, which is pretty awesome, but I don't think it overpowers the horrible starting benefits. I've also heard it's a great place to end your career. From what I understand they seem to have a policy where you'll leave the company (a lot of times it's over the poor salary, and by the time they offer to counter people are so disappointed that they won't even bother with the counter offer), then you make a career elsewhere for years, and then when you're at a senior/director level, they hire you back until you retire. I guess that's a strategy (of sorts); a lot of the former employees keep in touch through other project work because the consulting world is very incestuous. All former CGI (and many current ones who are honest about the company) have horror stories of things that happened to them and the general lack of caring from management and HR. On top of that, there seems to be no corporate vision, mission, or culture, aside from openly admitting that only people that work 10+ hours a day for long, sustained periods of time will be promoted (this is flawed, great employees can get a lot done in 8 hours a day). They seem to only keep around very similarly minded employees - employees that don't mind working long hours, for less than they are worth, with very few benefits, and no recognition. All of the people who leave never understand the people who stay. There is no bonus at the end, there is no pension, just more unrecognized work for less pay. One of the top CGI SMEs on a current project of mine who's been a consultant for years and is in his late 20s has a brother who was hired straight out of college with a starting salary at another company HIGHER than him. That's embarrassing considering the experienced employee has been the glue that holds this project together. Just another example of poor employee recognition. It actually costs less to retain your talent through recognition and salary than to have to constantly retrain new resources. Allowing knowledge to walk out the door is a poor business strategy. Inevitably, knowledge transfers fail and some knowledge can be lost forever.

CGI is a growing company ambitious to take on the big boys in systems integration and has had an impressive run of growth in revenue and presence.

Work is often project based and may be intense but generally there is a decent work-life balance. When I joined there were a lot of veterans around but more recently there is a noticeable lack of loyalty to experienced employees and I have heard lots of management references to them as being expensive with layoffs occurring without favor to those of longstanding service. Lots of acquisitions and re-orgs have left the structure somewhat cumbersome and disorganized which can be frustrating and hard to learn for anyone joining. There are also lots of mid-level legacy directors playing politics. A very strong negative is the need to inform managers of any attempts to move internally - if you end up with the wrong manager you are stuck.

In the number of roles I have been I would observe that this is not at all a good company for someone starting their career. Training is basically non-existent and grudging. Needless to say there is lots of pressure to do compliance training on the other hand due to the need to vet employees constantly for contracts.

CGI is doing a lot of interesting work on the positive side and if you bring the right credentials you can be doing some stretch work, but in the changing culture here I think the stay would be relatively short to pick up some good experience or resume builders before moving on before they move you on....

I had good co-workers and support staff - the shame is I think the work satisfaction trajectory is downward as the company grows by acquisition.

Finally, and unfortunately a negative point the HR organization is very weak in enforcement. There used to be a strong culture introduced by the french-canadian founder, Serge Godin. You constantly hear about "a great place to work" but from personal experience there is lip service paid to this as I experienced and witnessed serial interpersonal issues that were effectively ignored. As is often the case with a growth by acquisition strategy corporate culture dilutes over time. You still find pockets of the old mentality which was a good one.

Salaries are reasonable for the market.

There was a time I enjoyed working at CGI more. I maintain this company has a lot of good people working for it, and you can certainly do worse. However, there have been a lot of recent changes at the company for the worse. The biggest change is changes to how in-between project time work that feel as though the company is attempting to do soft layoffs. Additionally, this company will always see you as their product more than their employee. 

They pay below market rate, and if you try to come to them for a raise to meet the market, you will not get it. This can even happen after you've been praised for your performance in another meeting! This is in part because even if you have a very invested direct manager, upper management doesn't care. If you do manage to start getting senior paid rates, suddenly you will be considered "too expensive" to put on projects, and will be soft pushed out that way as a result. The only upside benefit is the share purchase program, which I admit is nice, but it doesn't make up for the fact they pay significantly less than other companies (even comparing to other companies in my relatively low cost-of-living location; I'm not comparing to FAANG here, I'm comparing to similar banking and insurance jobs).

If you're looking for somewhere with decent work-life balance, CGI is it, but also beware that they have a tendency not to offer any structured way to help teach you new skills, and you will end up stuck behind on what you need to know. Additionally, management has been pushing for more and more days back at the office; if you're hired on hybrid, beware that I do not think that will last for much longer.

You will not suffer crunch working for CGI in my experience, which may be worth it to you. However, I don't think this is a good company to build a career with, and management decisions as of late suggest that things are more unstable here than they'll pretend they are. Work here to gain experience, but then try to find somewhere else that will pay you what you're worth and will give you actual opportunities to advance rather than trapping you in a bubble where you're underpaid, given too few opportunities, and uncertain if you'll still have a job after your current project ends.

This company is great for someone who gets into the right place at the right time.  If you get in on the ground floor of a long term contract and are there for many years - and are one of those people who can make the right people like you - then eventually you know where all the bodies are buried and they cannot do without you.  So when the time comes for the "Roll offs" you won't get hit.  If the contract is rebid and CGI looses it - then you are out - and will need to look for another project.  The last hired is usually the first rolled off.  And you might as well not even try and move up - because if you make manager it is almost impossible to get another project.  If your rate is too high - you won't make the cut for a position even if you are well qualified. 

This become almost like a step up from a temp contractor job - except you are part of the company and treated like you work there.    Government contracting for CGI is no longer a stable job.  

As a college hire - if you can stay and hop around for at least 2 years it will give you a great foundation to move to another company.  But I would not make any large purchases until you are sure that you will not be "rolled off" your contract.

Certain people are given opportunities - (for the Project Management PMI certification) and some of us are never even approached. So career growth is really non-existent and on every survey the training and career opportunities are rated really low,

Benefits are better than most - the bonuses for Individual contributors - not so much.

On some projects you are allowed to work from home a few days a week and your schedule is very flexible - but when they need you at midnight they expect you to be there (which is fair).

There are other projects where the management is old school and is really into face time. They are really freaked out by people working from home - its like they are loosing control or something. Oh and these managers will still call you at all hours and expect you to jump and then be in on time the next morning. 

Unfortunate because some projects the employees are getting a raise just by being able to work from home while those that come in every day are not.

Pros: A good entry level job for college students which can give them work experience to find better jobs down the road. A nice gig for retirees who need some extra cash. The job is very easy and and low stress. There were some nice, hard working employees I met there. I was treated with respect by my team leader and treated as if I was a permanent employee even though I wasn't one. For people who like doing little work, they will get 40 hours a week whether there is any work or not. Some people can really milk it there if they want to. If you have a college degree, perhaps you could move to other locations to work better positions.

Cons: The building I worked at isn't like most CGI buildings which have salaried employees/consultants in a IT environment. This was the production side of the business with hourly employees which consisted of printing, QCing documents, and inserting them into envelopes by hand or machines to mail to the clients. Wages are low and everyone has to temp there between one to two years before they can get hired on permanently to receive benefits. The company offers as little over-time as possible and often makes a big deal about it. Temps aren't allowed to work over-time because the temp agencies charge them too much money. Because it's production, work load is very inconsistent and more often than not, they had much more slower days than busier ones. Not having a consistent work load was very frustrating and mind numbingly boring. Aside from a few team lead positions, there's little chances for advancement in that building.

Advice to Managment: You've got to find a way to have enough of a work load for everyone. Some people have a lot of work in their trained areas while others have almost nothing to do which makes the workload very unbalanced. Consider hiring employees permanently a little quicker to retain good employees. The economy is getting better and not many people will be willing to temp for 2 years with no benefits. I sure wasn't going to do that.  Give your hourly workers more of a chance to work at other locations in more desirable positions. Value your talented workers more.

A typical day at work involved me setting up a Varathane display table at Home Depot in the paint section and wood stain isle, where I could show customers how the product worked and the difference between Varathane and the lead brand. When someone would walk by I would approach them, ask how they were and ask to show them the demonstration and when I saw someone looking at wood stain I would ask if they needed help and they usually did. I would listen to long descriptions of what they were looking for and almost always matched their needs. I learned very quickly that it was okay to ask questions and accept help. Most importantly learned that you can  learn from every encounter. When I wasn't able to meet a customers needs because I didn't know the answer o their question, I always took the chance to find out as soon as I could. Dave Mason is the one who employed me and who I called when I had a question about the product I couldn't find myself. He gave me and a few other employees about 2 hours of training and his number for any questions. He was helpful and positive when I called and I was encouraged to make friends with the Home Depot employees. When I went from store to store, I heard some bad things about others with my job from the Home Depot employees but I never saw anyone with the same job after my first day of training so there is no way for me to know how much is true or any reason for me to focus on it. Technically I had no co-workers from AMS, but I treated the Home Depot employees as co-workers and they did the same for me. We would often ask each other questions, borrow supplies from each other, and give each other work related advice when asked. The hardest part of the job was quickly setting up the table in the mornings because I am very cautious and speed is not my strong suit. The most enjoyable part of the job was helping the customers and home depot employees.

I've worked at a few tech companies including some big names - and CGI is the best company I've worked for by far.  The pay is a little less than some of the big tech companies, but it's not low by any means.  In return I have excellent benefits, much lower stress, a great environment where people treat each other respectfully, and work fewer hours.   All of this means I have a life outside of work again!

One of the best things at CGI is their professional development opportunities.  They have a lot of online resources to learn new skills and classes for certification preparations in many areas.  They encourage people to go learn new areas even if they are completely different from your current role.  Best of all - my role allows me time to do self-development - something I've never had.

CGI is one of the few consulting companies who will try to keep their staff on the bench, so to speak, instead of dropping them as soon as they finish one contract if they don't have another one pending immediately.  I feel pretty secure here compared to other companies.

I've read some people complain that the pay is lower than some other players in the industry - but I have friends who work at other companies for less than CGI pays.  And if I factor in the hours I used to work  (60 a week salaried) vs closer to 40 a week now - then break down my salary at CGI to an hourly rate, it's actually higher per hour.  You can't get those work hours back once the day is over and I am so happy to have time to pursue my hobbies and spend more time with friends and family for the first time in years. 

I did not realize how stressed out I was from many years of high tech work until I came to CGI and learned that I could have a good job with some security, good pay, great benefits and people - but without the stress.

I’ve been with CGI for 5 years now. I started as a case manager. That position aligned with my precious work as a social worker for those with long term medical conditions. I found myself working more and more with our IT business analysts and our IT department on enhancing our systems. Less than a year after starting with the company, the collaboration with IT  as a case manager lead to an opportunity to move into a BA role. I’ve moved from  case manager, to consultant, to senior consultant in about 3 years. 

I feel so incredibly supported by my management team and co-workers. When my initial projected ended on our federal side, my manager pushed to find me a project on the commercial side. That encouragement has lead me to projects and roles I never expected. I cannot express enough how rewarding it is working for CGI. My team is spread out all over the country. I am not the only one on San Antonio for my team, but I do not feel disconnected. 

The benefits, recognition, and career development offered here is unlike any organization I have previously worked for. They expect a lot of you. And you always have to remember when working for a client, you represent the work ethic, culture, and mission of CGI. 

CGI and my manager completely changed my career trajectory and saw on me something I had not even recognized in myself.

This is an excellent place to work, especially as a first job after college. CGI Federal hired me the semester before I graduated, so I was very lucky to have had that opportunity. A typical day at work could be 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m., 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.; it varied depending on your work load/deadlines. CGI's core hours are 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., so you had to be at work within those hours. Lunch breaks could be up to an hour, either eating in town, at your desk, or in the break room. Working from home for a day was an option if you had doctor appointments, were sick, or couldn't make it to the office due to bad weather. You could make up time working from home. I learned a lot working here since I moved from one team to another, testing and developing software. Most of my co-workers were in the office; some were in another office and could be contacted via email, phone, or IM. Management was organized. I always knew who my manager was and how to contact them if I needed their assistance. The hardest part of my job was with developing software in Java; I didn't have a Computer Science degree so I struggled with keeping up with my work load each week. (I chose to move to that team for more technical experience; I have an Information Science degree and I did have two semesters of Java in college). The most enjoyable part of my job was learning new things almost everyday. Having nice co-workers, and the social club helped make the job enjoyable too.

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