Pros
Working for Ford AV can go well for you, but there’s many things you should know before risking it. Mostly it's a place to get your foot in the door, then move on to a better AV company.
Cons
The things you need to watch out for: •Whatever percentage travel you agree to when interviewing, the company may require up to 100% overnight travel. They will not ask you before assigning it. •The company does not hesitate to require weekend work, either. •The company encourages employees to report (spy) on each other and to keep corporate informed in all ways. The company also believes you should not be free to discuss most things with your co-workers. That’s why they encourage mutual distrust. Corporate also readily divulges the names of who their informants are. •Corporate management secretly records meetings and calls with employees, and probably conducts video surveillance of employees at all locations to find infractions. •Corporate management deliberately, explicitly lied to me on two occasions. •The Oklahoma office has several high-ranking employees with pet-policies that they try to enforce on the other offices, which are evaded and ignored. It’s laughable. •Don’t be surprised if the CEO, Mr. Ford, directly insults employees. •There is no end of bad things that could be said about Mrs. Ford. •The company rarely maintains company owned power tools or vehicles. •”Fixed assets” are how the company ensures an employee will be the one who pays for any tool that gets stolen, lost, or damaged. Not the company. •Ford AV tends to pay installers a less than other AV companies. They say it’s balanced by the profit-sharing that Ford gives. My profit sharing checks averaged $200 per quarter. Converted to a hourly, that’s an extra 39¢ per hour. Less if you factor in overtime, and you will be working overtime. When I changed companies, I immediately rose $2.00 per hour to do the same work. •If you happen to have an accident at some point and damage a piece of gear, expect the value of that item to be deducted from any further profit sharing you were otherwise going to earn. •Some offices will do anything to not pay employees mileage for using their personal vehicles, including deception and playing ridiculous games. •Ford AV also provides employees with about half the normal per diem when traveling. As for the other half, you’ll be able to deduct it from your taxes at the end of the year. (Meaning, this compensation you are owed, but did not receive.) •Salaried employees are particularly bad off. As is normal for salaried employees, they do not receive overtime or extra compensation for additional hours worked. But, if a salaried employee ever works 7.5 hours or less on any single weekday, they can expect to lose vacation time or be docked pay to cover the amount less than 8 hours. E.g. salaried when it comes to not getting overtime, but hourly when it comes to actually ‘earning’ full time wages (of your salary). •Advancement. Ford does not believe in giving annual performance reviews or raises. Instead, they review employees when they choose. According to the company it ranges between every 6 and 18 months, depending on how much effort the employee is putting in. They claim it’s actually to the benefit of employees. But, I never met a single person who received an early review. I did meet a lot of people who had to insist on getting a review after 18-24 months had gone by, only to receive normal or small raises. When the company claims their unusual (delayed) reviewing method is for the employees benefit, that’s an obvious lie. •Ford AV is particularly petty when it comes to an employee leaving. At best they’ll pay 50% value for your stored vacation time. Not that you should expect them to willingly pay it out at all. You’ll probably get charged for some fixed assets. More likely than not, your final paycheck will be significantly reduced, or eliminated entirely. •Should you leave within a year of getting a certification, expect Ford AV to also charge you for that.
