Observations: 1. Anyone with the financial flexibility to do so, or endowed with a strong sense of self-worth, typically resigns within the first month. During my time working there, I witnessed three different hires walk out on the first day. 2. Incompetence is tolerated, particularly at the management level. They tend to complain about having too much work or too little work, and that generally gets them off the hook. They’ve figured out that the owner has no real life friends, so if they can maintain the outer appearance of friendship, and keep to his very odd schedule (7 days/week, no off time, very early mornings), they can get by with phoning it in. 3. Which puts the entire onus on the staff, whether it’s the “network engineers” (there are really only a few actual NE’s, the rest are glorified help desk), or the sale reps, they are constantly overwhelmed with randomly shifting expectations (whatever is proposed in the weekly morning meeting as an imperative is typically forgotten once the agenda of the following week’s meeting comes around, because it’s really the appearance of a managed agenda that counts, not the actual accomplishment of any of these initiatives.) The coasting management staff enable this by shrugging and sighing their way slowly towards retirement. Meanwhile, the new introduction of completely new action items, combined with the frequent calls for performative presentations at these meetings, can drive you a bit nuts. Then you see that all upper management is basically engaging in the same performative pageant, and now, a few years after leaving their employ, it sort of shifts into focus. And no matter what hassles or challenges the present day might bring, you can always take a moment for yourself and meditate on the happy fact that you don’t work there anymore. 4. The other reviews are accurate, both in their criticisms and the allegation that the owner has written all of the positive reviews. All of his pet phrases are there, and give his penchant for numbers, it would appear that he was aiming for a 50% rating or above. This talent for fiction also applies to his visible shelf of lucite awards on display: most of these awards don’t exist. The “Partner of the Year” accolades don’t actually exist, except in the mind of the man who had them made at the trophy store. They are boasted of on the web site as actual credentials. 5. Young people with aspirations are overtly valued here, but what at first might appear as an employer giving an opportunity to young strivers quickly comes into focus as a manipulation: students from other countries with work visa’s are required to maintain their job to ensure residency. You’ll work with a lot of those folks. If you’re low on options, you’ll get a job offer. The key to maintaining employee loyalty is coersion. Which follows the business philosophy... 6. The business plan is basically to trap customers into an agreement that enforces three years of being billed for services, with very little wiggle room to cancel service. You might be able to get out of the contract if you die, so look on the bright side. 7. Customers hate this company. Everyone on the floor has spoken to these irate pissed-off customers. You will hear the boss frequently say “our customers love us! They never leave us!” It’s Orwellian. 8. And I guess that’s the point. It’s psychologically painful in the extreme to work for someone who lies so effortlessly and engages with people at such a one-dimensional level. It wears you out pretty quickly. Even the monthly after-work happy hour that the company hosts, it’s basically 3-4 hours of listening to co-workers complain about the boss and the maddening nature of his behavior and work habits. Real fun. Yes after a few of these, you will find yourself gladly turning down free drinks and free food. Because you realize that it’s just another way to extend the misery. And you might even think, this is what my life has come to? I spend Friday nights in Hoboken? So the feeling that your employment there makes you a big fat loser just continues to grow. Best move for you would be to find another place to work.
