United Online Reviews

I worked at United Online

Pros – good technologies that are useful for me even today

Cons – In beginning days, no exposure to inner details of work

I worked at United Online full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Nice people and flexible hours.

Cons – Will the company be around in a year or two. Location is Seattle is another issue with pending construction of the tunnel commuting will be almost impossible.

Advice to Senior Management – Be flexible and forward thinking in your decisions. Have an open mind to new ideas and pay attention to the industry in a more thoughtful way.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at United Online full-time

Pros – Great co-workers
Extra days off around major holidays
Decent pay and bonus opportunity

Cons – Wastes too much time and effort on projects that don't have a material impact
Too many missed opportunities at turning the company around
The end is near

I worked at United Online full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Small company making the work environment more personal. Also allows for opportunities to work in other areas where you might not get a chance to in larger companies.

Cons – Somewhat rocky future for the communications division beings its primary business is dialup. However, it is diversifying with the new wifi business. Also, a lot of the work is in Hyderabad, India which makes it hard beings they are on a different timezone.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at United Online full-time

Pros – 1. Good benefits
2. Salaries can be competitive if you negotiate well.
3. V.P.s and Senior Directors seem to care about improving the education and expertise of the people they manage in order for them to move up in the company.

Cons – 1. The culture is a little icy but you can break through the ice if you try.
2. It's a conglomerate and the different businesses tend to want to run themselves autonomously and don't appreciate having to work with the corporate office.
3. Because of layoffs the threat of losing your job is always looming. Causes lots of problems not only with morale but with employees being extremely protective of their job responsibilities to the detriment of cross training and inter/intra department collaboration.
4. I didn't like the corporate office location. Woodland Hills is the hottest place in Los Angeles and the traffic is horrendous from every direction.
5. Some people like the corporate office space and although it is nice and new I found it extremely sterile and boring.

Advice to Senior Management – In my opinion, people who were sharing offices had better daily interactions than people in cubicles. It might help break the icy culture if you get rid of the cubes and turn the cube space into a shared workspace like the people sharing offices have. Tell the powers that be to let you decorate the office space the way you want it. Try harder to make people feel valued and appreciated so when you ask them to train another coworker on how to do their job they don't get pissed because they think they are about to get fired. Good luck in the future.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at United Online full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Talented and diversified teams that brought different skills to the table.
Salaries were always at the top end of the market.
Good Bonus and Stock (ESPP/ESOP) structure for all levels of technology team
Generous Time-Off/Holidays (Thanks to CEO)

Cons – Old technologies and not much innovation
While company tried to be dynamic, there was no clear direction for some of the products as to how they are integrating and how they will end up shaping. Acquisitions also lacked clear strategic plan (at least was not communicated well within the organization)

Advice to Senior Management – Just like technology integration, people of various business units need to feel like they are a TEAM. Except initial Juno/NETZERO merger, all the later acquisitions meant very little to any of the employees that are not part of the executive team due to the nature of how the business units were run in SILOs. Even though work force is 1500+, it never feels like that big a force because of lack proper integration and structure

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at United Online

Pros – the office location is nice

Cons – No growth in employee career

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at United Online

Pros – 1. Friendly co-workers and supervisors
2. Competitive vacation policy
3. Spacious, aesthetically-pleasing office space
4. Civil, non-confrontational culture
5. Strong regard for business ethics

Cons – 1. Management unwilling to take risks.
2. Constant fear of layoffs impacts morale
3. Very little upward mobility
4. Constant pressure to cut costs in weird areas.

Advice to Senior Management – Be more respectful of the people who make money for the company year after year. Don't continue to reward hangers-on who do not add value.

I have been working at United Online

Pros – Good work/life balance, good overall compensation package, can develop close relationships with colleagues, autonomy. Since the company is small, politics seem to be much less important and it's more about results.

Cons – No clear strategic direction communicated by Senior Management for parts of the business. No focus on career succession or professional development. Products are not "sexy"

Advice to Senior Management – Make professional development, promotions and employee retention a priority for all parts of the company. Challenge managers to develop clear career and succession planning for their groups so people can advance internally.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at United Online

Pros – CEO is generous with extra days off, good benefits.

Cons – Groups work in silos, dry work environment, sharing of knowledge needs improvement.

Advice to Senior Management – Have employees interact more, allow more opportunities for growth.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend