Sell you the “dream” and never deliver - Technology Consultant 318 Employee Review

1.0
Oct 5, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Jerry, Tom, Ehren, Bobby and Craig were great resources to learn from and will do their best to help you if they actually have time. I wish you guys the best of luck if you are still there.

Cons

318 is all about promises and making sure that they never deliver on them. When I started at 318 I was told within the first three months they would help me obtain two Apple certifications and a Microsoft one. All the certifications would be paid for by them assuming I passed and I was told they would lay out an agenda for learning and testing. After 6 months of reaching out to management and asking what was going on and getting no answer I finally gave up. Part of my negotiated desired salary was dependent on those certifications. They like to keep all their employees on salary pay so that you can be worked 60 to 70 hours a week and not get paid overtime. They say you will have weekends off but that is hardly ever the case. Taking a lunch break is pretty much out of the question since there is no where for that time to be accounted for and management will later question why you haven’t made the quota of billable hours for the day. You will be told it's not about “getting your 8 (billable)” but it is. Employees are HIGHLY encouraged to have an hour of billable for every 45 minutes worked (4 under 15 minute tickets rounded up within 45 minutes) enabling 318 to pad their bank account that much and overbill their clients for work that wasn’t performed. Bonus programs are laughable and non-existent on paper. Nothing is kept on paper so that there is no record if you ever go to redeem your bonus. Turnover is also extremely high. This company will burn you out, kick you to the curb and hire the next sucker they just sold their “dream” to. In the six-month time frame I was there we lost over 10 employees some of which had been there for many years. The office working space is inefficient, unwelcoming and there is nowhere to call your own. There are no desks unless you count the conference table or plastic beer pong table that we were told was temporary (6 months later and it was still there and being used). All essential tools and diagnostic equipment to do your job must be purchased by you, and you will not be reimbursed. Company profits are spent on useless items like an AstroTurf lawn and loveseat for a patio no one uses- instead of buying a real work space to sit at for staff. The chairs were all broken, padding was gone and will hurt your back by the end of the day. I once witnessed management speak their mind after interviewing a new candidate calling them a “%^&^$ moron we will never employ” only to see management then turn around and hire them the next week. Do not work for this place if you do not set a goal to be in and out within 6 months before you are either burned out or are are tossed to the curb and someone else is hired at a lower rate to fill your spot.

Explore other reviews about 318

4.0
Feb 21, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I have been working for 318 for about two years, and the thing that stands out the most to me is the quality of the team that surrounds me. There are clearly strong friendships at all levels of the staff, and it's reflected in the work. It is also one of the few places that you can find the highest levels of expertise on the Mac, PC, storage, and networking sides of the field in the same organization. From a team member standpoint that really puts you on solid footing with the confidence you need to finish projects and follow through with that team, as well as learn from them. The culture also encourages strong and straightforward communication of both accolades and concerns, which I find very refreshing.

Cons

As with any consultancy, the demand can be strong at times, and it becomes important to develop the necessary skills to handle those trials. Gaining a strong understanding of tools, systems, and your peers early on can help to ease that. I also think that continuing to develop and define the system of routes to resolution with any kind of staff concern would help to improve the speed with which those concerns can be resolved. In my personal experience, the open door policy of a small business has honestly been wonderful, but I think that for different personality types a more clearly defined system would be helpful and comforting.

3
2.0
Oct 5, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Hit the ground running and learn fast. Work with technology you might not otherwise have the opportunity to work with. Cool clients.

Cons

• Frighteningly high turnover • Regular 10-12 hour days • Salaried employees are considered to be unlimited hour employees. If you request to go hourly, you are threatened with the prospect that there may not be enough work and that you would be released early regularly. The fallacy is that there will always be enough work but you will be too expensive to use so 318 will use an unlimited hour employee instead. • No overtime compensation. • No night or weekend compensation - client's pay 1.5 to 2x their regular rate. • No follow-through on commitments made to staff. Commitments not made in writing. • Internal bonus programs are a joke and are practically impossible to receive a payout with. Bonus points spent on lunches / time-off requests vanish into the abyss or fall on deaf ears. • Management often comes off as selfish and more interested in their own personal success than that of those they manage. • Management does not work with you during scheduling and will sometimes expect you to drive over an hour to be at the office for 30 minutes before commuting an hour home when going home first could have allowed you an entire hour to work. It comes off as an abuse of power.

9
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