Pros
It's a great place to start a career for sure, even if you've been in the I.T field for awhile it is a great place to gain more experience. I've seen training every year since I started and luckily I've had some excellent Managers who've helped me grow professionally. CGI seems to be a little fish in a big pond but don't let that fool you, depending on where you work it can be quite exciting and there are some definite opportunities for CGI to wow the industry as a whole. Despite how many similar companies are under-performing, CGI seems to be doing well, it's just too bad that the company goes relatively un-noticed. It has its up's and down's like another other I.T consulting company but it tends to buck market-trends as a whole. It's a solid performer quarter after quarter. Benefits aren't the greatest about par compared to most companies. Every employee can evaluate the company on a yearly basis from the stand-point of the business unit he works in and CGI as a whole, this has helped identify siginficant areas of improvement, this has helped Management try and keep in-touch with the company's staff. Profit-sharing is a bonus but never a guarantee.
Cons
Salary isn't really all that competitive, salaries are either below average or at the average compared to similar companies. Retaining good talent has been a challenge where I work, recognition of a job well done although good, it really depends on who you Manager is. I haven't heard of a case where CGI will fight to keep an employee, except in one case when it was too late. Overtime doesn't follow industry standards where I am and if you like to work a lot they will love you but that's a quality every company in this industry admires, let's be honest. Recognition is really dependent on where you are and who you report to, the local Management tends to be slow moving and slow to respond to employee needs. Communication isn't all that good but it's getting better, Management knows that it has to improve and are working towards improving it. CGI seems to be ignored by the industry as a whole outside of Canada and it's senior management seems very conservative all of the time, it doesn't seem very aggressive in the market place. Cooperation between various business units isn't great but it is getting better. There seems to be a disconnect between Senior Management and the local VPs for the business units, communication or a better understanding of how to reach our goals needs to be conveyed better. Definitely try to negotiate a higher starting salary, otherwise get used to 2%-3% raises.