Pros
Made some really good connections with customers. Helped a lot of small businesses get established.
Cons
If you are in a region run by a tyrant your life will be miserable. Management is very good about running people out the door if they don't like you. I was not a blind follower of upper management and once I crossed them or professionally disagreed with them I was placed on a short list to be either removed or demoted. Within a year, I was placed under a re-located manager and I was back stabbed, set up for failure, lied to and my work life was miserable. Skip level meetings were used to undermine my authority and I felt as though there was no hope. I was even told by my direct supervisor that the 2 managers above me wanted me gone and he was sent to my area to get rid of me. They used 3-4 of my direct reports to screw up everything I had built up over the years and then they came after me with a vengeance. All of this was done under the guise of "employment at will". The good news is that I reported all the crap to senior level people and one of the crooks who was above me is now gone!! There was also way too much micro-managing going on and the sales reports were ridiculously wasteful. (Sunday work was needed to to stay on top of things) I felt as if I was tracking numbers to make sure we were tracking the numbers that we should be tracking (overkill). The only managers that got favor were the obnoxious, in-your-face type that stopped at nothing (including walking over other people) to get what they wanted. There is virtually no respect for the trench work and the attitude of "what have you done for me lately" runs rampant. It is definitely a high pressure sales job, but the difficulty to succeed is magnified by the wasteful tedious junk required daily to appease the management above you as they try to look important. Motivation techniques are almost nonexistent and behind closed doors it can be every bit of threatening. This is not a good starter job for anyone due to the risk of damaging your self esteem and the company is in dire straits. Customer service is at an all time low and the perception of the digital product is practically a joke. The real downfall of this company occurred when a certain competitor was purchased (for way too much money) and many of their management team were blended in with current teams, etc. I think only a few of these managers are left and I know for a fact "stay on" bonuses were wasted on most, if not all the other managers who are long gone. Those stay on bonuses were not only a bad idea, but a slap in the face to the loyal managers already with the company. I hope the friends who are still at HIBU somehow survive as the ship continues to sink and I take a serious pride in knowing I got out in time. I intended to retire here and now I am so glad to be gone. I am no longer handcuffed to a lap top and the endless emails that ruined my day!! I will be anxious to see what some of the managers turn to when there is no one left to bark at or point fingers at when the end arrives. This was once a great company, but the people left to mind the store have ruined what is left of it.
