Pros
Working at DISH MIGHT be better than standing on a street median with a cardboard sign begging for change, but I'm not entirely sure.
Kontras
Run, do not walk, from this place! If I could give a zero-star rating I would. The only thing bigger than the CEO's ego is the level of dysfunction woven into this company’s DNA. I came on board initially as a contractor. A lot of warning bells went off immediately, but it was a job and I chose to ride out my contract. When a position opened in the department I went ahead and applied because I hate interviewing. Little did I know I would still have to interview and pass a battery of surreal personality/aptitude tests. WHY these are administered considering the caliber of people they ultimately hire is beyond my understanding. I had asked my supervisor what the expected pay rate would be when I came on. I was quoted one figure, but I was then notified by HR (as my final paperwork was being prepared) that number wasn’t accurate, and they could only pay me marginally more than I had been making as a contractor (essentially covering the mediocre health care plan). All this came down the day before my contract was to expire. If I’d known they’d be pulling this crap, I would never have accepted the offer, but as I had absolutely nothing else lined up as an alternative, I went ahead and came on board. During my tenure as a contractor, I was sequestered from the rest of my department. This did not afford me an honest opportunity to assess beforehand just what I was getting into. It took only about two weeks after being in “the general population” to realize I what a horrible mistake I’d made. I felt like I'd stepped back into high school, or even more accurately, into a college frat house. My supervisor ran the department like a Cub Scout Den, and when I brought up my concerns about this frat house mentality, I was told, “Things are like this everywhere.” No they aren’t. NO THEY AREN’T. After a major reorganization of the way we performed our work, things only got worse. Micromanagement was the order of the day because apparently we were incapable of making our own determination of what needed to get done and how. Also, In most companies, if you screw up, your manager will take you aside and discuss it personally. NOT HERE. Public humiliation in front of the group is the modus operandi, and “SORRY FOR YA!” is the response if you don’t like it. “You’re always free to find another job.” There is a pervasive feeling of paranoia running throughout the company, as exemplified by the daily turnstile reports. The draconian enforcement behind this HR policy is what really makes DISH the worst place to work in the US and has caused a serious void of talent within the organization. (You must not pass through the gates later than 9 am or leave any earlier then 4 pm or you and your supervisor will be called upon to provide a business related reason WHY you did not conform.) It doesn’t matter if Denver was snowed in and travel had ground to a halt. You should’ve thought ahead and stayed overnight at a nearby hotel (on your own dime, of course). Department policies are things you are just expected to KNOW, even though they seem to change from day to day, based on the mood of the manager and whether or not you're liked. “What do you mean you don’t know how to do ‘x’? It’s on the Sharepoint!” NO IT’S NOT. And even policies that ARE written down will change at a moment’s notice. Benefits and pay are a joke. Minimal holidays, only 10 days PTO, and a high-deductible ($2500 if you’re single) health insurance plan that is useless for normal, day to day medical expenses like doctor visits and medications. Then there are the annual “talent upgrades,” during which time a hundred or more employees are randomly shown the door in an apparent effort to free up parking spaces in the notoriously undersized lot at Corporate HQ. Also on an annual basis, 80-100 fresh-behind-the-ears college grads are brought on as summer interns and treated like visiting royalty. Only the best for these boys and girls, no second-hand equipment allowed! Everything must be brand new, EVERY SINGLE YEAR. So even though the basement is full of brand new, unboxed equipment from last year’s crop of interns, a hundred new items had to be ordered this year. So much for the company mantra of “spend money like its your own.” And they’re treated like royalty ONLY until the select few are hired on. Then they get issued the same crappy equipment everyone else has and come face to face with the ugly reality of life at DISH. Just another example of the bait-and-switch mentality at this company. My advice is this: if you’re unemployed and are offered a job at DISH, STAY UNEMPLOYED. This truly is the worst company in America to work for and even though they’re aware of this reputation (and monitor these reviews, regularly TELLING employees to come on and post positive reviews) they are totally unwilling to address the systemic rot and dysfunction that has caused it. It’s almost as if Charlie Ergen is sitting in his office saying, “We’ve been voted the worst company in America again this year and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let anyone take that title away from me!”
