Lowering your expectations for your own good

CGI Group was founded by 2 young guys who were 26 and 29, and now it’s the largest IT company in Canada. We’re like Apple and Google in a sense, except we’re not cool, we wear suits and people under 25 don’t know us - and if they do they think we’re specialized in “CGI-BIN” development.

Friends, the economy is tough nowadays and we will live through harsh times for several years. Don’t even think of taking risks and starting a company, nobody will give you a dime. Our fearless founder Serge was one of a kind, he’s much smarter than you and they’re no way you can even walk in his footsteps.

The reason I’m such a downer is that we badly need to hire people, and I get extremely angry when I hear that one smart employee leaves for a gaming company or Microsoft or any other company cooler than us. Why would you work for a company where you get free drinks and food, casual dress code and co-workers who look like Kramer or The Dude? At first, you’ll get all excited, the company will throw free t-shirts, golf hats and Hawaiian parties, but as the reality sinks in and you work 90 hours a week, you’ll realize you’re just a pawn in a giant chess game controlled by people who’ll never meet. Your contribution will be insignificant, the entertainment and freebies that your company provide will just a mask to hide the truth. And the single truth is, a company has to make money in order to survive.

Here at CGI we don’t do this double talk. What you see is literally what you get, it is the stark reality without a costly varnish of make-believe. Yes, our projects are boring. Yes, our customers are government offices frozen in time. Yes, our organization is made of dozens of middle management layers each with no power or budget. Yes, you’ll feel like a number from day one (and we’ll actually give you a number). Yes, you’ll work 37.5 hours a week (I mean 40). But that’s the beauty of it - we could not be more transparent.

So save yourself years of unfulfilled promises and unrealistic expectations. The whole notion of starting a company and changing the world is just an invitation to get your expectations crushed. Accept reality at face value and come work with us. You’ll never be a millionaire, you’ll end up at 65 pretty much like anyone else (bald, bitter and heavily in debt), your professional life will be pretty much uneventful, so dull actually that you’ll never talk about your job is social gatherings.

If you accept this reality as your wildest expectations, you will never be disappointed and you may actually feel pretty good. I’m awaiting your resume.