ChemPoint.com Reviews

Pros

Interesting subject matter, strong internship program with competitive undergraduate wage. Free snacks go a long way when your in college. As an Intern I was included in team building events though this is not the norm. Management for the most part approachable and friendly.

Cons

Interns stock before mentioned snacks on a weekly basis. If you can get in under a good mentor you can often avoid this chore.

Advice to Senior Management

Encourage interns to be active in sales calls to promote them returning to the company.

Pros

Very organized, structured, hierarchical, typical corporate feel.

Cons

Uninspired and monotonous, lacking a vision for growth.

Pros

It is a job. They do pay you. You are exposed and learn about IT and its relevance in creating efficiency in that business process (of course ChemPoint pays big bucks for top notch consultants for this competitive advantage). For a person just out of college with a chemical engineering or chemistry degree this will be a huge eye opener.

Cons

I am happy to be out of that place. Very frat type of place. Unprofessional and not very bottom or top line focused. Did not feel like diversity was even on their radar.

Advice to Senior Management

You cant fix apathy and complacency, but being self aware and learning to think critically would be helpful to the firm. It is as if the leadership was deliberately built to be the way it is...i.e. a homogenized culture. I would say that Xenon Arc would be a good place to think about moving towards....lol

Pros

Food & Drink: This place is stocked with food, fruit, and liquids. Sodas stocked on every floor. Breakfast and lunch foods in the freezer. Two espresso machines. Top Pot donuts on Fridays. In addition, ChemPoint loves happy hours - loves them. It's not uncommon for random happy hours to top $300 among a small group. ChemPoint knows what it's employees (mainly young, single people) want, and they give it to them as often as possible.

Resume Builder: You get tons (tons) of experience in contract negotiation, new business development, account management, and logistics. A first day Industry Representative will receive a territory of $1.2-3 Million; that's incredible. Hard work in hitting high (but attainable) KPIs can lead to swift promotions.

Be A Screw Up: This is somewhat of a joke. ChemPoint doesn't encourage being a screw up, but they do not punish it. Make a call, have a reason, and you will never get in serious trouble. It's pretty awesome.

Accessibility to Upper Management: I can walk into any VP's office any time I want. Seriously. I can even walk into the President's office. This if a $250 Million company, and no one if out of reach.

Cons

Pay: Salespeople are usually the highest earners at any company - not the case with ChemPoint. Unless you are entering in a management position, don't expect starting salary to be more than $40K per year.

One Trick Pony: Marketing & Sales is the bread and butter. If you want to make the most out of ChemPoint (and make the most financially) you better love sales and marketing. However, the only way to get to Marketing is to do Sales first.

Suppliers Always Win: If you are an sales rep (Industry Representative, Market Developer, Account Executive) your customers will always get the short end of the stick. Suppliers are the real customers of ChemPoint, not the actual paying customers. For that, your actual customers will always hate you, and management will blame you, not the suppliers.

Lifers: There are lifers at every company... people who want to stay forever and/or think thus is the greatest company in the world. ChemPoint's lifers are the worst in that they fall into one of two distinct groups that are equally upsetting: 1) The naive who think that ChemPoint is perfect. 2) Those who see ChemPoint's glaring weaknesses, but love their management spot and constantly ignore the elephants in the room.

Advice to Senior Management

You have moments of brilliance where you are honest, forthcoming, and truly aim to develop the career paths of those at the company. But most days you use the non-managers to spin suppliers' fairy tales to the market, you skimp on customer service, and you defend pay that prevents you from retaining quality employees. It's disgusting. The company is full of great people who are forced to do questionable things and believe in silly practices in order to keep their jobs.

Tell people why you exist: "To create mini-monopolies for suppliers." We know it's true. You know it's true. Chad (the former president and co-founder) told us it was true. Stop telling employees that they add value in areas where the company obviously does not.

Be customer centric and tell Univar (the parent company) and suppliers to go "jump in the lake" when applicable. ChemPoint makes significant money at high margins for Univar and the suppliers - they need to respect the work we do, but you let them avoid doing so.

Pros

Great place to learn and gain experience. Company culture is also a key point of differentiation that you don't find at too many other companies.

Cons

Ownership structure and inexperienced leadership can impede progress at times.

Advice to Senior Management

None.

Pros

- All employees are approachable and friendly (even upper management)
- Freedom to explore disciplines that you find interesting
- Cutting edge technology
- All the food and drinks you want
- Great office facilities and excellent location

Cons

- Opportunities for advancement are somewhat limited
- Employees seem to be moved around within different departments frequently

Pros

Young employees that provide an exciting and very energetic work environment. People tend to get promoted quickly and are rewarded for their hard work. The work experience and training that one gains is invaluable.

Cons

Compensation is less for positions, across the board for all departments, compared to other companies. There are not many positions that involve travel and interaction in person with customers.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide less structured career paths where an individual can more easily move laterally as they have a better idea of the path that they want to take within the company

Pros

complimentary beverage and snacks. free parking.

Cons

salary is slightly below competitive

Pros

Great job where you can build marketability. You can learn great professional skills and build your resume working for ChemPoint.

Cons

The downside is there is low pay. Other than that, this is a great job and I recommend to anyone that they work there.

Advice to Senior Management

Give serious increases in salaries. The company is making at least $150,000,000 in profit. This money can enrich the employees.

Pros

- Free food & drinks
- Free bus pass
- Matching 401K benefits

Cons

It's a call center. Employees aren't particularly passionate about their work.

Advice to Senior Management

No comment