Pros
Softchoice was very unique from other similar type VAR's. Beer carts, dogs in the workplace, and charitable/evironmental initiatives all showed that Softchoice Cared. "Softchoice Cares" was actually one of their homegrown initiatives and it was refreshing to work for an organization that would give back.
Kontras
The culture was definitely different than that of other VAR's, but a lot of what Softchoice originally was built on disappeared with various acquistions which seemed to drain the bank. It took on a very corporate atmosphere, several employee cuts, as well as salary cuts. A great deal of stress was placed upon individuals, work life balance was an afterthought unless you were single, and leadership skills of some managers were nothing short of demoralizing. Being part of the "IN" club definitely had its advantages with sr. management and the executive teams. If you were not in that club, you didn't stand a chance. Inadvertent exec slips of the word " Xerox" instead of "Softchoice" were joked about at sales conferences as it seemed your natural progression after Xerox was employment at Softchoice. Those managers that seemed to care about their staff and doing the right thing were dismissed and replaced by long term, stale replacements at the dismay of staff. Definitely a lot of nepotism and it was abundantly clear to the staff.
