Pros
The other employees share your pain and are a great comfort. They the smartest, most driven and hard-working individuals I have ever met. Some of the lower-level managers are amazing, and perhaps a few at the director and VP level.
Cons
Let's break this down into categories for simplicity's sake. Also, the below may not apply to everyone, as every manager is different. That said, most of this applies to most people I know. CULTURE I can't say much about the Business side (especially since I know some very honest, wonderful managers over there), but generally the culture is horrendous. Badge in, badge out. Get in trouble for leaving early, get in trouble for getting in late, whether there is a tornado or blizzard outside or not. "Get a hotel close to work the night before" is their suggestion. There is a yearly Performance Appraisal in which you are not allowed to be rated above "meets expectations," or the universe will implode on itself. They insist on hiring driven, high-achieving employees, then only rate them as "meets expectations" in order to destroy their confidence and metaphorically beat them into submission. I hope this review meets their expectations. There is a high degree of secrecy at this company. Business initiatives and department goals are kept under lock and key, and certain managers will tell you that everything you do or work on is "confidential" and that you "cannot trust anyone" and are therefore not allowed to discuss it with other employees, which makes it very difficult to collaborate or move toward consistent goals. When you ask what your team or department goals are, certain managers will tell you they can't share that with you. When you ask why your 9th project idea cannot be presented to your director, certain managers will tell you "because of political reasons I cannot discuss with you at this time." Certain managers micromanage to the point that you cannot work with others; instead, certain managers will require you to send all your work to them first, so that they can review it and send it to the intended recipient, whether it is your project team or your own director (even if that director explicitly gave you instruction to work with them directly). Also, certain managers forbid you from speaking to your own director (or whomever is above your manager). There is a lot of project and idea theft in this company. This has by no means happened only to me, but to many employees I knew. If your project is too high-profile, expect your own manager to remove you from the project and take it for themselves. By the way, in most of the cases I've seen, the stolen projects ended up in complete chaos. The managers go through special "trust-based" training and get pretty badges on their intranet profiles for it, but are not themselves trustworthy nor do they encourage you to trust other employees. Quite the opposite. It is also impossible to get training for yourself or your own career path. When you ask for it, certain managers lie to you and make up a reason as to why you can't have it. You cannot work from home or make up hours. You must be in the office from 9am-4pm. If you have bronchitis and no sick days left, you have to come to the office and spread it around like wildfire. If your children get sick, you get in trouble for leaving early to tend to them. But... find solace in the fact that all your peers are suffering with you. WORK This is a tactical company focused on putting out fires and applying band-aids. They are not in the business of solving problems and eliminating the cause; instead, all their attention goes to addressing the symptoms. This is not a good place to work if you like to solve problems. There are bottlenecks at every level in this company, and the higher up you go, the worse the bottleneck is. Executive approval is required for everything... Well, except evaluating an employee's termination. Certain managers can trap their own employees by using information taken out of context and building their own story around it, conveniently enough. Certain managers and directors are too busy to look at what you as an employee are doing. They may even be too busy to give you work, but be careful; if you're in that situation and you try to solicit work, you will get in trouble and likely eventually be fired. PAY & BENEFITS Don't work here if you care about your title or your paycheck. Though certain managers might tell you for months that you will get promotions and raises, don't expect it. Certain managers will just get you a crumby raise and tell you how great it is compared with everyone else's raises. The only medical insurance plan has a $12k out-of-pocket with a $6k deductible. You also only get 5 sick days for the entire year. My advice: don't get sick. They acknowledge about 5 or 6 holidays for the year, NOT including Christmas Eve. On the positive side, there will be several days of the year where you have a GREAT drive into the office (because no one else in this blasted city had to work that day). The pay is laughable, and your previous work experience has absolutely no bearing on your title at DISH.
