Tech Companies

Ciena Corp.

Overview
Culture
Recruiting
Facts & Resources
Subsidiaries & Divisions
Competitors

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Overview

Ciena Corp. is a telecommunications-equipment company that pioneered a technology now used by all major providers of Internet, voice and cable service. Its wave-division multiplexing (WDM) gear allows carriers to significantly boost the capacity and speed of their networks without adding more wires or switches.

Many industry watchers once felt sure that the Linthicum, Md.-based company would be acquired by one of its much-larger rivals, who needed Ciena's gear to fill out their product lines. Yet after surviving the telecom bust, Ciena has expanded into new networking markets beyond WDM sales. In 2009, it agreed to acquire Nortel Networks Corp.’s Metro Ethernet Networks business, gaining a new line of switches and optical networking gear. In the purchase, Ciena gained more than 2,000 Nortel employees, almost doubling its work force. The company now sells gear to governments and large corporations as well as to telecom providers. It has operations in North and South America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Culture

Ciena is looking to maintain its small-company culture in the wake of its acquisition of a Nortel Networks division in 2009. The work environment is casual yet fast paced, as Ciena employs hundreds of skilled electrical engineers. Perks include stock options and an employee stock-purchase plan.

The company embraces social media. It pens a corporate blog. You can also follow it on Twitter and Facebook, join its group on Linkedin and subscribe to its videos on YouTube.

Recruiting

Ciena uses corporate recruiters to help it find engineers and other highly-skilled talent. It encourages employee referrals. Some interviews may include behavioral questions to see if you fit in with Ciena's culture. These focus on questions about how you behaved in specific situations in the past, rather than on hypothetical questions.