Smart Technologies

[Ajay]

Does anyone work for or know anyone that has worked for/working for Smart Technologies?

They make interactive white boards. Just curious to get some feedback if possible about the company/culture...etc.

[Xtrema]

From what I heard, most people don't last more than a few months due to idiotic management. They used to be very cheap (salary, perks, benefits) but my info is already 1-2 years old. I don't know anyone working there currently. They may have improved to stop the revolving door from spinning.

BTW, if this guy finds a financier, Smart will go bankrupt in a few years.

5s5EvhHy7eQ

[Ajay]

Originally posted by Xtrema
From what I heard, most people don't last more than a few months due to idiotic management. They used to be very cheap (salary, perks, benefits) but my info is already 1-2 years old. I don't know anyone working there currently. They may have improved to stop the revolving door from spinning.

BTW, if this guy finds a financier, Smart will go bankrupt in a few years.

5s5EvhHy7eQ

I was looking at their website and a fair amount of their senior management has only been there for 1-3 years. Not sure if that would be a good thing.

That dude that set up the Wii remote to be used as a white board is pretty sweet. I doubt he can find the financial backing since he's using a product already produced and licensed by Nintendo.

[CCM Pro]

I have no real info on them but I am a Public Relations major and they constantly advertise for various PR practitioners...I mean 2-3 times a year at least! That cannot be a positive sign but who knows.

[Lex350]

lots of turn-over at that company. They have a very high opinion of themselves and it rubs customers the wrong way. I would walk away from these guys.

[Xtrema]

Nice to see they haven't changed.

A story I heard how cheap they are, one Christmas, they are giving out Taxi chit for the party. 2 employees who live practically down the same block decided to pool their chits, one to get there, one to get back. Management got a wind of it and forbid the practice. I mean WTF, it would have cost the company the same or may be just $50 more at most if they decided to go home separately.

That's no way to treat your engineers.

[rmk]

my future sister-in-law's husband works for them as an engineer. last time we talked (which was around thanksgiving) he was pretty pissed at some stuff going on around there.

[Ajay]

Originally posted by rmk
my future sister-in-law's husband works for them as an engineer. last time we talked (which was around thanksgiving) he was pretty pissed at some stuff going on around there.

Can you elaborate? Or maybe send a PM if you know the details? I called them back to see what they had to say but I'll probably just stick at my current job.

Just wondering but your 'future sister in law's husband' would be your brother wouldn't it?! :)

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Ajay
Just wondering but your 'future sister in law's husband' would be your brother wouldn't it?! :)

Wife's sister's husband doesn't have to be your bro? Think about it.

[Euro838]

Don't know about the culture but they've got their new building being built by Brentwood Train Station. Used to be hard to get in there. They gave a pretty technical exam that you had to do. I've got some friends that work there and have been there for a long time now. Maybe they're the idiotic managers that people are talking about here! :) LOL!

[lewdvig]

They are a pretty awesome company.

SMART used to be one of my accounts. There are some good jobs here in Calgary and they have a new HQ up by the UofC.

I would rank it as a pretty cherry place to get hired.

Usually folks need to jump ship to fully appreciate how petty they are being about a given situation. The grass may seem greener but it is probably poop spray painted green.

[rmk]

Originally posted by Ajay


Can you elaborate? Or maybe send a PM if you know the details? I called them back to see what they had to say but I'll probably just stick at my current job.

Just wondering but your 'future sister in law's husband' would be your brother wouldn't it?! :)

I'll see him at X-mas.

[01RedDX]

.

[lint]

Worked there for 3 months a few years ago. Pay was average at best, not class leading. Benefits aren't bad, but no share purchase plan or RRSP match. Bonus structure was non-existent and then still pretty crappy. Based on my experience, they go based on word of mouth, recruiters in particular seem to love them and think it's the best place in the world to work. I thought it was like a cult. They didn't have their name on their current building, no name on any of the doors, no name on the building manifest, just "Occupant". Even though they are quite the large company now, management still has the mentality of a small business. All decisions had to be signed off by the CFO, even though there were 3 levels of management that already approved the decision. It didn't do it for me. But I know someone who's been there for years, and will probably die there. If there's anything specific you want to know, pm me and I might be able to help you out.

[KuraiDM]

Not sure why, but a friend directed me to this thread, first post btw.

I'm currently employed by SMART and while I have no experience as to how the company was in the previous years, as mentioned by the above posters, I have found that my experience here has been for the most part enjoyable.

The problems with management could very well be with specific departments, but my supervisor and manager have been great to work with.

Our offices are split up into I believe 4 or 5 separate buildings in Calgary, not including the manufacturing plant in eastern Canada and various sales offices out of country. Our new headquarters which should consolidate much of our resources into a single building is being built up by brentwood as mentioned above, and should be completed sometime around summer next year.

There are lots of other stuff I suppose I could go into, but I haven't quite worked here for a year yet, I've only been employed since February, I'd still have to say that overall SMART is a pretty good place to work.

[rage2]

SMART Technologies is one of our long time customers. I've done some on-site work with them before and I was impressed by the guys that I worked with there. Like here, they seem to only hire really bright folks. And at the time (this was in 2001?) I was doing the work at their downtown office on 11th Ave I think... it was a pretty basic looking office. They don't spend money when they don't need to. That impressed me. If I was looking for a place to work, I would definately go there based on the impression they gave me.

[DHW]

There's a few companies that have something similar but none of them really caught on.

http://www.mimio.com/products/interactive/
http://www.e-beam.com/


Originally posted by Xtrema


BTW, if this guy finds a financier, Smart will go bankrupt in a few years.

5s5EvhHy7eQ

[mucat]

Hey, my manager used to work there and I know a guy who is working there. I think there are lots of bright people working in that company. I guess it is not too bad a place. One thing you have to remember, every company's management level staffs are idiots according to the employees. ;)

[Ajay]

Thanks for all the feedback. I guess I should have been more detailed in regards to what I was inquiring about.

The position I applied for is not for a technical position. It's for a sales position. I guess just wondering if anyone of the above posters has been employed in a sales position there and what expectations/managers are like in that capacity.

[KuraiDM]

I work with QA in software product development, so unfortunately I don't have any insight in regards to sales.

Best of luck to you regardless.

[thrasher22]

I'm writing this post from Smart haha. I've worked here for about a year and a half as a web developer.

What Rage said hits the nail right on the head, I wouldn't say they're cheap, but they are fairly controlled with how they spend their money. All the negative things that were posted have changed for the most part in the last 6 months to a year, there was some big high level shake-ups.
When I started here there was almost no benefits, and not surprisingly, tons of turnover. They've started to bring in RRSP plans, socail clubs and other insentives which are really making a difference.

Its a really relaxed environment, if someone shows up in a suit people assume you're going somewhere for an interview at lunch lol.

People I know in Sales seem to like it, I get the impression its a bit stressfull as we're making a lot of big market pushes these days, but just judging by what they wear, they pay isn't bad ;) . Expect to travel a ton, mostly trade shows, but it depends what region you're assigned to.

Let me know if you have any questions

[Kloubek]

I went to an interview there a few months back for a web designer postion. I was actually under the impression that it was the best interview I've ever had, and I had a positive response to everything they asked. I emailed them to thank them for their time, but received no response. And no call as to whether I got the job or not either. I'm guessing I didn't.

If I did, I'm probably fired for not showing up. :)

The guys who interviewed me did seem legit when they said it was a nice place to work though. My manager left to go to there a few months back as well, but he's not the type to complain if he wasn't happy.

[Splooge]

hmm there's a job posting for a Graphic Design position through monster.

i'm wondering if I should apply based on your guys' responses.

[Kloubek]

^^ Go for it. Just don't park on the street in front of their building. I didn't notice the timeframe for the "no parking" and ended up getting my car impounded. I wasn't too worried at the time, since I thought I had a great chance to get what seemed like a good job.

Excellent case for not counting your chickens until they are hatched. :)

[Davetronz]

Originally posted by KuraiDM
Not sure why, but a friend directed me to this thread, first post btw.

I'm currently employed by SMART and while I have no experience as to how the company was in the previous years, as mentioned by the above posters, I have found that my experience here has been for the most part enjoyable.

The problems with management could very well be with specific departments, but my supervisor and manager have been great to work with.

Our offices are split up into I believe 4 or 5 separate buildings in Calgary, not including the manufacturing plant in eastern Canada and various sales offices out of country. Our new headquarters which should consolidate much of our resources into a single building is being built up by brentwood as mentioned above, and should be completed sometime around summer next year.

There are lots of other stuff I suppose I could go into, but I haven't quite worked here for a year yet, I've only been employed since February, I'd still have to say that overall SMART is a pretty good place to work.

I agree with this post entirely.
I am employed with SMART, also in software QA (which makes me wonder who this is).

I have had nothing but the most positive experience with SMART in the 4 months that I have been here.

The company has been awesome, the benefits are great, while a lot of the management is junior or new, the managers who count and make the decisions know their job/role.

I have been with a lot of companies, (IT, software) and SMART is by far the best. Yes, none of the buildings are "labeled" but they do that for a reason. We don't face customers, we don't retail our own products to consumers. We only use a reseller channel to get our product into the market. Our offices are mainly development, testing, documentation and internal works. We don't need to advertise with flashy signs.

The company is growing an at incredible rate, and I am happy to be onboard for the long haul.

[HiSpec]

Don't mean to dig up a thread that is a year old. But I have been looking into this company.

From what I read, SMART, started off with fairly negative comments from their employees.

What about now? A lot of improvements?

Thanks

[sneek]

I have heard from more than one friend that they treat their employees poorly! I am sure if you ask around you will find someone with a SMART horror story.

[GTI CANADIAN]

HAha! I work for SMART too!

:guns: :guns: :guns:

[HiSpec]

Originally posted by GTI CANADIAN
HAha! I work for SMART too!

:guns: :guns: :guns:

so what do you think of them? how do you enjoy your work?

[vinc456]

I don't know much about SMART, but they hire pretty aggressively in Career services and have nabbed some pretty smart undergraduates. (well two) One of their postings was simply a puzzle. If you were able to submit a valid solution I assume they would bring you in for an interview. I don't think it worked out though because after the job posting expired they quickly followed up with a more traditional posting for the same position.

They also participated in a career fair two months ago but there was some sort of hiring freeze? (don't quote me) or something and they explicitly stated that there were no positions available. Wtf?

[Davetronz]

Originally posted by vinc456
I don't know much about SMART, but they hire pretty aggressively in Career services and have nabbed some pretty smart undergraduates. (well two) One of their postings was simply a puzzle. If you were able to submit a valid solution I assume they would bring you in for an interview. I don't think it worked out though because after the job posting expired they quickly followed up with a more traditional posting for the same position.

They also participated in a career fair two months ago but there was some sort of hiring freeze? (don't quote me) or something and they explicitly stated that there were no positions available. Wtf?
Quite wrong....
I worked the career fair. We haven't had a hiring freeze as long as I have been at the company. The career fair that we had a month or two ago resulted in quite a few people getting formal interviews and many others getting hired.

We weren't taking paper resumes at the career fair, out of respect for the environment and because we require that all applicants apply through our website.

With SMART, we don't hire people for any old position they apply for. We find the right person for the right job. We have very specific job requirements and we tend to hold out for the applicants who have those skills. If we receive 200 resumes for a position and none of them fully meet the requirements and qualifications we're looking for, we re-post the position. We also hire with respect to your experience. This means that we won't hire someone who applies to a "Jr Software Developer" position with 15 years experience as a software developer. The position being filled will likely result in that over qualified person getting bored fast and leaving or wanting some sort of other position in the company. Same thing with under qualified applicants. We wouldn't put someone in a position knowing that they were going to sink and drown without enough experience.

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by Davetronz
With SMART, we don't hire people for any old position they apply for. We find the right person for the right job.

Sounds like someone drank the kool-aid. Haven't worked at SMART myself but I was offered a position which I turned down for a more interesting job which happened to pay a lot better. I have to say I was NOT impressed with the salary offered by SMART.

[ZorroAMG]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin


Sounds like someone drank the kool-aid. Haven't worked at SMART myself but I was offered a position which I turned down for a more interesting job which happened to pay a lot better. I have to say I was NOT impressed with the salary offered by SMART.


Huh? Where did Dave comment on salary? How is he "drinking the kool-aid?"

[eb0i]

I have a friend that works there 6 plus years. He has nothing but good to say about it. He says he likes the work because its challenging and rewarding.

[Davetronz]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin


Sounds like someone drank the kool-aid. Haven't worked at SMART myself but I was offered a position which I turned down for a more interesting job which happened to pay a lot better. I have to say I was NOT impressed with the salary offered by SMART.
All I'm saying is that we get a LOT of applicants. We aren't just going to rush out and fill the position just to fill the position. We wait for the right candidate, even if it means re-posting the job a couple of times.

I haven't been drinking the kool-aid, just like any job/employer there are upsides and downsides to the job and company.

I won't comment on the salary too much, but I will say that I took a pretty sizable pay cut to work at SMART, but that some of the benefits outweighed being miserable in a higher paid job downtown.

[vinc456]

I didn't go to the career fair so I'll take your word for it.

It sounds like most of the people that have worked at SMART for a substantial term like the place while those who don't end up leaving. No surprises there I guess.

Anyways here's one guy I "know" that has a pretty impressive looking CV that was hired by SMART many years ago. I googled him several months ago: http://edwardhtse.googlepages.com/EdwardTseCV2008.pdf

As you can see my relationship with the company is pretty weak. :burnout:

[Davetronz]

I know Ed. We've worked together on a couple projects.

[Grogador]

The salary is average, compared to what people were offered during the O&G boom, but the product/vision/attitude is decent. Like any workplace, there is room for improvement and people you might not enjoy dealing with. The company has grown a lot in the past few years, so there was (and still are) some growing pains. Hopefully some of the mistakes made during the growth rush can be undone. Definitely seems like small-company mentality trying to break out into medium-sized business. The move into the new building was stressful but it's nice to have most of the team under one (shiny new) roof.

Overall, the people are good and the work is interesting. I like how people are willing to share knowledge, instead of the 'closed off' insecure mentality seen elsewhere. It's nice to be working with (or at least near) the new stuff and seeing the development, instead of being a computer janitor or something.

SMART is a Calgary company founded 22yrs ago by a husband and wife team who used to re-sell projectors. We're now a top-20 tech company in Alberta. Three out of five interactive whiteboards in classrooms around the world are SMART, one is (our nearest competitor) and the other one is split by the 40+ various companies who are bitin'. (independent source) (http://www.futuresource-consulting.com). We have plenty of other hardware, software and content as well...

Enough koolaid for ya?

[Davetronz]

Originally posted by Grogador
Like any workplace, there is room for improvement and people you might not enjoy dealing with.
He's talking about me...


SMART is a Calgary company founded 22yrs ago by a husband and wife team who used to re-sell projectors. We're now a top-20 tech company in Alberta. Three out of five interactive whiteboards in classrooms around the world are SMART, one is (our nearest competitor) and the other one is split by the 40+ various companies who are bitin'. (independent source) (http://www.futuresource-consulting.com). We have plenty of other hardware, software and content as well...

Enough koolaid for ya?

This is why you're customer facing and I'm not! :rofl: