Stay away. You will regret working for Visual Sound. - Project Manager Visual Sound Employee Review

1.0
Jan 12, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Salary and benefits were pretty decent. I came from the same project manager position from a competing AV integrator and got a $30k bump for making the move. (On reflection I think that's much more of an indictment of my previous employer than praise for Visual Sound). Sadly that ended up being nothing more than a red herring masking the terrible experience of working for this company. One genuine positive that I am happy to share despite the rest of the negativity on this review is the large number of women in management positions at Visual Sound. The AV field is almost exclusively dominated by men so it is very refreshing to see how many women are in positions of power in this company.

Cons

Roughly a year and a half after leaving Visual Sound I still regard working there as one of the biggest regrets of my professional life. The company is 100% focused on sales above all else with no consideration at all about how projects will actually be completed once the contract has been awarded. Clients are promised the world by the project teams are left holding the ball with no resources to deliver the contract obligation. Installers, engineers, and PMs are overbooked and overworked beyond anything I've ever experienced. PMs and engineers are constantly fighting one another for resources resulting in some really shady backstabbing and infighting between (and within) the regional offices. Inventory ordered for and allocated to my projects would often turn up missing without explanation. Arduous searching through the archaic project/inventory database system inevitably would show that the missing items had been redirected through the procurement process to be used in other PM's projects without any notification or attempt to backfill the missing inventory. Attempts to get some explanation or recourse either goes nowhere or results in being admonished for the actions of others. Asking management a policy or procedural question results in 6 different answers from 3 people to the point that the same production meeting or training session often results in completely contradictory instructions back to back in the same session. Expect stress levels so high that you end up crying on the way home and vomiting when you get there. You'll eventually get fed up to the point that you don't care, leave, the next person gets hired, and the cycle continues.....

Explore other reviews about Visual Sound

5.0
Jan 28, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My experience at Visual Sound has been undoubtedly a positive one. There are some truly incredible managers onboard here and I have co-workers that have become like family to me. The CEO is exceptionally hardworking and passionate about the AV industry. She works around the clock and is on-site every single day, which is rare to find in this day and age. Contrarily to some CEOs I've dealt with during my career, Karen will always show up for her team and won't hesitate to get her hands dirty. She knows the in's and out's of the industry and that can be intimidating for some people, especially as a strong female in a male-dominated industry. You can't fault someone who wants their employees to share her strong work ethic, represent VSI well, and partake in her unwavering determination to succeed. There's a reason why VSI has been in business for 60 years and has been successful in building a large, loyal client base. If you've ever worked in AV, you'd understand that it's incredibly difficult to succeed in this industry and there's significant competition. You have to be able to compete with the heavy hitters out there and she does just that. She will not tolerate anything less than the best and has established a savvy team behind her. Personally, I find that something to really respect.

Cons

None that I can think of.

1.0
Mar 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The employees are the best part of the Visual Sound experience as they are good people, extremely talented and doing the best they can given the unfortunate CEO circumstances.

Cons

CEO makes business decisions based on emotions and not best interest of the employee or the company. CEO is clueless of her negative and demeaning behavior. CEO holds no accountability for her actions and continues to blame others. CEO micromanages and is too involved in everyday business. CEO does not empower; she rules by fear and tries to take your power. CEO is a hindrance to the success of the employees and the company. CEO shows up late for meetings, meetings take too long and are not productive use of time. CEO is rude during meetings - you never know what is going to set her off. CEO not only puts down general employees, but also C-Level executives right in front of others. CEO can be verbally abusive during group calls or in person meetings which makes it extremely uncomfortable for everyone. After the meeting or call, colleagues genuinely care and feel bad so they reach out to see how the targeted employee is doing. CEO gives false hope and continuously breaks promises.

3
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