After spending five years with the company I can say that the entire experience was a mixed bag. The good was really good and the bad was just awful. Benefits are still better than you'll find most places. Think $70/mo for single insurance coverage with NO deductible, usually $20 co-pays at most. Vision and dental are 'meh' at best like most places. Time off is amazing. After five years I had three weeks paid vacation, one week of personal time, and sick time is earned separately and generously as well.
Management is horrid. Okay, so about 2004 they had a big upswing in business and they promoted all these people because they had to fill desks. They aren't necessarily well versed in leadership, listening, empathy, or really any management-like skills. I speak ONLY regarding the sales departments and retention departments--anything customer facing they could not care a lick less about you. Know those horror stories you see in the news about Comcast and customer service calls? It happens every day at TDS. You'll be berated about your numbers. When they're good they aren't good enough. When they're bad they'll replace you. There is no coaching to help bring you up to speed. Once you fall out of their good graces, you're done. I don't say this as some bitter employee who got canned after several years, I say this as I witnessed hard-working, honest people (not all of them, but most) get walked out the door. Instead of helping them succeed or finding a role they can work successfully in, management finds it easier if you're just gotten rid of--because there's always a training class lined up.
The customer service area is rotting from the inside. Every other person is on some bogus form of FMLA because of stress. I shouldn't say bogus, because it IS very stressful, but it's a vicious cycle. You're mad nobody else shows up so you go get FMLA yourself and then you're gone. Then someone else suffers. It's never-ending. And people brag about being on FMLA. It's widely abused here so if you're a hard worker you'll find no pats on the back from management and no support from your co-workers. With the cheap benefits and higher-than-normal pay most people will find ways to take a day or two each work week unpaid as FMLA because the money still comes in.
You can earn money here to be sure, but you'll pay for it in stress and sanity. After five years, it wasn't worth it for me anymore. Now, before you go assuming I'm just bitter, I'll say I have at least a half dozen friends who still work for the company in NON customer-facing roles on the TDS corporate side of things and they love it. There are many versions of TDS...There's Metrocom which is a dying CLEC brand in a few markets, Telecom which is their main grouping of customers for phone and data and TV, and then there's the corporate end of things located in Middleton. If you have the education and experience, I hear it's alright over there. Don't say I didn't warn you about a customer-facing position however.
