If you want to be overworked and have your spirit broken, work at WiredTree. - Anonymous employee WiredTree Employee Review

1.0
Aug 4, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You will meet some super smart admins. A lot of big brains and big hearts. Only reason I can see why people stay.

Cons

I will begin with the fact that management likes to squeeze the most out of you. They know that the turnaround for admins at WiredTree is huge, so they will make you grind for 12+ hours straight. No one, and I do mean no one, lasts longer than 2 years. Once you hop a year, almost everyone will be new, except maybe 1 or 2 that has gotten promoted or moved around to replace someone else that has quit. Admins and developers, who know their worth, will walk within the first few weeks. They just can’t keep themselves fully staffed. I feel that the biggest reason why people walk has to be the lack of structure and team work. Management preaches team work, but they favor the admins who they buddy up with, and take advantage of the ones who don't know how to say no. WiredTree has some very smart admins and shift leads, and it is sad and insulting when you see a person that doesn't deserve it or leaches off of others to make themselves look good, get promoted. Every company has one, so in general, beware of these kinds of people, they will throw you under the bus for self-gain. I believe the one I encountered at WiredTree still works there, so I warn future admins, she will throw you under the bus to cover up the fact that she has little to no knowledge of Linux and scripting. I don't have to give names; you'll sniff out this person(s) once you start working there. Don't bother talking to management, because they will look the other way. As a matter of fact, they already have by promoting this person. Also, I don't know what they are talking about in regards to bonuses and free lunches. Yes you have endless access to energy drinks, but no free lunches and bonuses are only given when Zac (CEO) is in a good mood or doesn't forget. Months will go by without bonuses, and the system for rewarding people is a joke. Once you are on shift, make sure you have a big breakfast because expect to not eat for 12 hours. Managers take lunch early between 11-noon, eat in front of you, and don't bother to offer to take over your work so you can take a short break. They simply do not care. They have it set in their minds that it is up to you and the other 2 admins to figure it out, which means you will need to grind harder so one of you can run out and shove some food in your mouth. Noobs in training, developers and management, will take their lunch break in groups, while the 2 to 3 admins on shift just keep grinding for 12+ hours straight. There are just too many clients for 3 people to handle, yet if you fall a bit behind you will get verbally scolded. Some clients need extra attention, and there simply isn't the man power and time to help them all out 100%. In addition, you will get flack if you only hit a lesser amount of replies a day against others that might hit a 100+. The problem with that is some of the admins who have a lesser count, are sometimes the ones who pick up the harder work and put in more time to help fix the ACTUAL problem, yet that is never considered. It really sucks to come into work and pick up a ticket that has 40 replies because the admin before is off base, doesn't know what they were doing, or has been giving the customer the wrong solutions/answers over and over again. Going back to the lunch breaks, I can believe no has filed a complaint with IDHR. Admin work at WiredTree is no better than an assembly line, and trust me, after some time it will start to break you down. All this combined can even begin to break your spirit and mentally decapitate the notion that you can do better elsewhere. In regards to Zac, I wouldn't approve of him as a CEO. He has temper tantrums and flips like coin so often that the other managers are constantly apologizing for him. I have heard them say this out loud, as most things that should be private are said out load often at WiredTree. You can't verbally abuse an employee and expect for them not to quit or become a bit jaded. You don't treat another adult like they're less than you only because you own your own business. It's unprofessional and downright appalling. It was also mentioned that in a previous review that the bad reviews for this company are dissatisfied ex-employees who were fired. That is a false statement. I for one walked away and can honestly say that about 9 out of 10 employees at WiredTree walked away as well. Out of probably 15-20+ employees that I have seen go, only about 2-3 of them were fired. So take that to consideration when reading these reviews. I'm just warning you an advance. Also, notice that almost all of the good reviews here are employees who are still there. You don't really grasp how bad it is/was until you leave and you are treated fairly elsewhere. You leave so traumatized and burnt out, that at times, you can't grasp the concept being treated fairly at another company. But I guarantee, there is better places to work at than WIredTree. 40K is not worth it.Think about that. I could go on and on, but this should suffice for anyone who wants a REAL perspective on what it is to work for WiredTree.

Explore other reviews about WiredTree

5.0
Jul 31, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great opportunities to gain experience where you may not have had any, or the credentials on your resume to get you the opportunity in the first place. Lots of room for growth within the company if you work at it. This isn't a place where you can come to work, do the minimum, and expect to get ahead. If you work hard you will. Pretty simple. Lots of support from senior admins and managers available.

Cons

It's not going to be an easy ride. The first year is going to be tough for some people. Be prepared for some bumps along the way, especially if you are inexperienced. There are plenty of people to ask for help, but it can still be very stressful until you get the hang of things. Keep at it and get through this period, and you'll be fine.

4.0
Sep 14, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You will be surrounded by skilled admins and shift coordinators who are willing to extend their knowledge when asked; The experience you gain will be extremely useful to better your career as a systems admin; The range of tasks you take on don't stop at console work (ie, hardware and data center work will be a part of your day-to-day); Communication skills, critical thinking, and focus will be sharpened in order to complete your tasks as an admin here; Management is very experienced and professional, and are excellent trainers in acclimating someone to the work life of a web hosting admin; compensation is fair and is open for growth if you keep with it multiple years.

Cons

The shifts are long (12 hours) and the customers aren't always in a great mood or great communicators. Be prepared to take on a night shift if you are getting worked into the schedule (this could be a plus for some); The size of shift teams seem a bit light on shifts that get very busy; The vacation hour policy is stingy if you haven't worked there for multiple years; Some issues may be above your skill level and there may not be an immediate superior available to help sort the issue out quickly.

2
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WiredTree Response
11y
Thanks for your review of WiredTree and for your hard work while you were with us! We are glad that you found the on the job training and overall experience here to be a positive one. We are trying our best to give our coworkers a fun environment where they can hone their Linux skills and help our customers everyday. In response to your advice to management, one thing that we have recently changed this year was providing more frequent staff reviews. We have moved from a yearly review cycle to one every six months, so we can set goals, gather more relevant feedback, and review salary. We realized that a year is too long of a review cycle to be effective and we are sorry that you didn't get to experience the new one.. We have also revamped our entire review process so it can be better used to track goals and feedback over time. We feel that these changes are a step in the right direction to keep our coworkers engaged with the company during their time at WiredTree. I will pass your feedback about the 12hr shift and vacation time in our next operations meeting. Thanks for sharing it. We have been looking at other shift models to see if our support team wants to move away from the 12hr shift. Most are very happy with the bulk time off that the shift provides and most have been resistant to moving to a different shift model as they would lose their 3/4 days off a week. Regardless, we understand that the 12hr shift is not for everyone and we are taking steps to explore all other shift options. As for not having an immediate superior available, we have redone our management structure this year, so we have a direct supervisor on every shift throughout the week, along with a manager on every shift Monday through Friday. We also recently promoted one of our most senior Linux Administrators to General Manager of Support to help facilitate a better internal support structure for your past position. As you can see we have been making a lot of positive changes since your time here at WiredTree. We truly want to make WiredTree the best it can be and we are very grateful for your feedback. We wish you the best of luck!
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