Zonar Systems reviews

2.9

33% would recommend to a friend

(198 total reviews)
avatar

Charles Kriete

20% approve of CEO

25% positive business outlook

Zonar Systems has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 198 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Zonar Systems employee rating is 22% below average for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

198 reviews
2.0
Apr 1, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

People are mostly wonderful. Everyone works hard and collaborates well for the most part. They've seemed to navigate through the pandemic well so far, with minimal effect to the workforce.

Cons

Even though the employees are great, there is quite a bit of toxicity that exists between departments because of a great lack of understanding of the tasks handled by other teams. The train of thought is to pass things along in the hopes wherever it lands can figure it out. There seems to be a lack of training on the sales reps especially. Supposedly, their emphasis is to "sell, sell, sell." So they just focus on bagging a sale without thinking about any follow-through or if the sale is being done correctly. If any errors occur, they are quick to pass the buck off to other teams for clean up. Then they're praised by management for an excellent #onezonar effort, when in reality so many others scramble behind the scenes to ensure that sale doesn't fall through. It's unfortunate that turnover has not stopped there for some time and have lost some great members. Overall, there also seems to be a struggle with the "growth spurt" that Zonar is experiencing. Processes are still pretty non-existent with most seemingly satisfied continuing to work with tribal knowledge. That leaves a lack of consistency with pricing/packages presented to customers. A new pricing model was recently rolled out, likely to address this issue, but results were still pending to be seen. Communication is also a struggle, some teams are left to confirm process changes which tends to contribute to the toxicity because the questions get perceived as a "dumb question" because it's assumed that everyone already knows.

5.0
Aug 24, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Who will succeed here: Zonar is a good place for self-starters, and people that are determined to solve problems, and people that work well in groups. There are opportunities for people of all skill levels. We solve mostly problems that take elbow grease, not necessarily advanced calculus. There is a lot to learn and a lot to know. If you like solving problems, there are no shortage of those. We have good diversity and good values. We're not perfect, but there is a great commitment to evolve for the better. Why is it hard sometimes? The transit industry is tough. There is lots of regulation, lots of competition, and to top it off there's a lot of companies that want to be like Zonar. Right now the company is working to stay ahead of the competition, and learning to focus on the future of the industry, but not leave our existing customers behind. We carry a lot of legacy code while trying to be as agile as a start up. Tech stack: While a lot of tech companies value the ability to solve some esoteric whiteboard task based on tricks or useless knowledge, this is not that kind of place. Are you a good thinker? Are you reasonable to work with? Will you dig in on a problem until you find the solution? Those people succeed here. If you want to be guided on every step, are an alpha geek, or think that your way is the only way, you probably won't last long here. On the flip side there is an enormous amount of room to grow your skills. Learning, improving, studying new tech is valued, and there is a place for refactoring code. I learn new things literally every day. We are working heavily with Google Cloud, machine learning, big data, and distributed systems. There are big problems to solve here if you are game. Management: There is almost no micromanagement or high-pressure culture (in my experience). Sometimes it seems that there are a lot of managers, but thats what you need when you have to keep an old system stable while building new features. Time off opportunities, team building events and freebies (like food) are ample, and there is a full week off for everyone between Christmas and New Year's which is an incredible benefit. The Mission: At the end of the day, you're making kids/busses safer, helping truck drivers get home to their family, and helping the roads be safer. You are part of a huge and essential supply chain that almost every one of us depends on. I grew up in a trucking family, working on rigs on the weekend, and helping out in the office, so I got to see first hand what kinds of issues we solve. At the end of the day, I have a lot of belief in what we do.

Cons

There is no current way to both manage and be an individual contributor, the idea of a "tech lead" could be utilized more. Deadline are mostly unrealistic, but fortunately are often met with a reasonable extension. I think it's more the nature of the industry than the company itself. Customer care deserves more credit for their work.

2.0
Jun 18, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Exciting innovative products that were a joy to be involved with.

Cons

Most managers were promoted from within, but with no proven leadership or management experience, seemingly based on favoritism in a 'good-ol-boys' club of drinking buddies. Compensation was also very sub-par for a "Seattle" company (it's more accurately in Kent)

Viewing 16 - 18 of 198 Reviews

Glassdoor has 208 Zonar Systems reviews submitted anonymously by Zonar Systems employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Zonar Systems is right for you.