Difficult to succeed, but solid stepping stone
Pros
- Big company with lots of smart people - means you have access to excellent resources (if you can persuade your way into them) - Easy market with strong external growth factors - means it is next to impossible to not succeed (biggest challenges are internal) - Excellent development opportunities to learn lean/DBS principles (if you are one of the chosen) Gilbarco is the kind of place that looks awesome on paper, and will continue to be awesome for some time. Unfortunately the closer you get to the top the more you will realize the distinct challenges that you will face to become successful. For some, this is not an issue, for others you have to decide how long you want to pour your energy in for the hopes of the promised return.
Cons
- Lots (and lots) of ego - you'd better be a political mastermind if you plan to grow outside of your immediate box - Most of senior leadership is type-a - not that type-a is bad, you just need to be aware that the culture rewards type-a - Very low employee engagement scores - lowest within the overall corporation, means people are very disgruntled - Very strong bias towards individuals from top MBA programs - double standards run rampant Gilbarco is a solid option, and not a bad choice if you are actively considering an offer. Just don't let the glamour of the Fortive/Danaher name blind you, because you will quickly find that there is little substance behind the name, and most of it involves you making sacrifices for the broader company. In all fairness, I do believe management is aware of their problems and is attempting to fix them.
