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SolarCity

Acquired by Tesla

Is this your company?

OK place to work for those new to the workforce or in dire need of a job - Anonymous employee SolarCity Employee Review

2.0
Apr 11, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Easy to get hired with little to no experience, a lot of idealistic young coworkers. Free snacks and beverages. Opportunities for overtime. Convenient location in Town Square. Likeable CEO. There are many nice, well-intentioned people at the company. Depending on your department, particularly your immediate supervisor and teammates, the environment can be good or fun. However there is a lot of "blind leading the blind" as well as favoritism/politics among some of the more established employees. If you can pretend to drink the Kool-Aid long enough (minimum 6 mos), you can potentially move to a different role or department. If this is your first job, it will be fine as a "resume-builder." For the right type of personality, you may enjoy it enough to stick around and advance. The work is not hard and it's difficult to get fired unless you are really terrible.

Cons

Low pay, high turnover, poor training. Inconsistent leadership and instructions. Extreme emphasis on metrics and numbers. Many entry-level employees without a lot of work experience. Lots of shall we say "unpolished" candidates that are difficult to train or just plain embarrassing to work with (not intelligent, uneducated, cannot follow basic instructions or don't care to). Emails rife with typos and unprofessional wording were a common occurrence, both internally and externally (sent to customers!). Low starting salary ($25K annually) was non-negotiable; raises are minuscule and at fixed increments despite your accomplishments. Mandatory minimum "quota" that you have to meet, no matter if there isn't enough work, you are out sick, on vacation, etc. Sick people would come into work anyway, afraid to take sick time, and get everyone else on the team sick. Bonus system encourages questionable business practices (regular "doctoring" of documents) so that people can beef up their numbers and results in a lot of back-stabbing among team members to stockpile points. Work was repetitive and often mind-numbingly boring to anyone of average intelligence. Most people wear headphones all day and listen to music, so you might have 0 interaction with others. There's a whole lot of "We're saving the world; we are the best!" type of brainwashing; meanwhile all the panels are manufactured in China with terrible environmental impact. God forbid you act like you aren't 100% a believer or a team player, though. You will not advance if your supervisor/manager does not like you. If you are promoted, supervisor level and above do not qualify for overtime and are expected to work during weekends.

Explore other reviews about SolarCity

5.0
Oct 21, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay and no supervision working at the different Home Depots

Cons

Having to make numbers and sales

4.0
Mar 22, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Just to quantify my review a bit, I am within the top 10% of inside sales reps within our 12,000 person company. It is a great place to work and people doing well ARE able to make good money here. The executive team ALWAYS has a platform for reps to help make SolarCity a better place every quarter. They involve the top 20 reps each quarter in various ways to help their peers through an interactive group called Team Elite. Executives, VP's, Directors, and Managers are always willing to help and go to bat when there are issues with things that need to be fixed. The direction of the company is consistent and although the company is large, decision makers work as hard as possible to steer the big ship quickly when necessary.

Cons

Knee jerk reactions with decision making at a director level create issues from time to time. Culture has had its ups and downs due to HUGE growth last year and subsequent high attrition rates.

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