University Directories Reviews

Current Employee – been working at University Directories as an intern for less than a year

Pros – If you're self-motivated it's a great job. Great for those who are interested and like selling. The week long training is great, and you get to learn a lot.

Cons – It is all cold calling and the product is not easily sold in most markets.
Long hours and days with little pay.
High expectations of sales goals
Very hard to stay motivated when hearing "no" all day.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at University Directories full-time for less than a year

Pros – Connections that were made are life long lasting. The experience pays for itself.

Cons – Commission based pay, gas isn't covered, majority of the day is cold calling

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

Current Employee – been working at University Directories

Pros – -All of the employees work very hard to obtain goals and deliver the best possible results
-Great work experience, especially for young college grads who are trying to figure out which career path they want to take

Cons – -Somewhat low pay
-Sometimes there are minor miscommunications regarding specific work objectives, which can lead to a lack of understanding as to what needs to be accomplished

Advice to Senior Management – Keep on doing a great job training and motivating employees to do their best!

Current Employee – been working at University Directories

Pros – You get the opportunity to see a lot of businesses in your college community.
If you know you want a career in sales, then this would probably be a good option for a summer internship.
I realized what I don't want to do for a career.

Cons – This was the worst job I have ever had. The training did not prepare me whatsoever for the internship, and all they do is go on and on about how this is going to be the best summer job ever. The pay is horrible. I spent more on gas than what I made each week. The job description itself is fairly vague, and I had no idea of what I was actually doing until the first day of work. And the approach to selling is all wrong. They tell you to question the business owner and find out their needs, but they tell you to say the same thing to each owner, regardless of their specified needs. Also, the prices are ridiculously high for reaching such a narrow market. Most business owners will realize that this is a horrible way to actually reach the students and will (wisely) realize that this would be an utter waste of their money. I felt so sleazy the entire time I was trying to sell.

Advice to Senior Management – Tell your interns what they will actually be doing, and set realistic goals. Selling is based on catering to the customer, not throwing them a memorized pitch that doesn't even relate to the business' needs.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at University Directories

Pros – great sales training program
gives you good experience

Cons – the job description is very vague and is listed as "marketing internship" which is misleading because its sales
all cold calls- they hire college students desperate for experience to visit basically every business in the area to try to sell advertisements
55+ hour weeks- the job basically becomes your life
they expect too much out of student first-time sales reps
they advertise the networking opportunities as one of their biggest draws but the corporate partners only will talk with top 100 sales reps

Advice to Senior Management – ceo and upper management were good

Former Employee – worked at University Directories as an intern for less than a year

Pros – It helped me get a great job after college, but I really just needed any business experience to make my resume look good. I was sufficient in leadership categories and needed this job to help me get recognized after college.

Cons – I lost money on the whole summer. The sales experience is not enjoyable and the product is not very marketable. The stated rates were ridiculous to ask for print advertising that had such small distribution. Competition had a better proposition with more salesmen flexibility on pricing. I did not learn much from this job experience.

Advice to Senior Management – Give salespeople a better opportunity to have control over pricing. You need to close the sale in the first trip for a successful summer.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at University Directories

Pros – -Meet business professionals in your local college town
-Gain hands on experience in the business world
-Meet college students from across the country
-Free week long trip to North Carolina!

Cons – -Hard when receiving No's all day from businesses
-Long days in the heat

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at University Directories

Pros – Independent work
Praise for work
Challenging
You discover what type of person you are
You grow personally
You develop relationships with the community

Cons – Not much mentoring
Too much of a history in the area
Not paid much
It's a grind
Can be very negative

Advice to Senior Management – Warn your employees about the reputation the company has. Be personal, not just a cog in the machine. Explain how much it means in the future.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at University Directories

Pros – gain ton of experience
education on sales
networking with nearby businesses
career partners
Nice managers who want to see you succeed
All expense paid trip to NC

Cons – low pay for how many hours you invest
not much down time especially on days your trying to get 3 contracts signed
challenging work, your going to hear no and have to keep pushing through your day

Advice to Senior Management – Management is young and its refreshing to know you can make it so young and be happy. They live a fast paced life and they do it well.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at University Directories

Pros – Great training process, UD recognizes that we were the primary driver of revenue and they treated us as such.

My experience gave me the edge I needed to land a very good outside sales job.

Managers were supportive and enthusiastic about what they do.

Entirely responsible for setting your own schedule and making sales calls.

Cons – Most people who come into this internship don't have outside sales experience and the high pressure environment (quotas, being told no or "get out of my office", etc) comes as a shock. But this internship really serves as a good eye opener - either you want to do it or you don't.

Pay isn't great, you've got to sell a lot to make more than the measly couple hundred bucks a week.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend