Second-Rate, but bearable - Anonymous employee Modus Group Employee Review

1.0
Sep 27, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Modus is pretty much just an average place to work, assuming you have a positive attitude and can jive with the frat-boy humor that is often prevalent in the office. It’s not horrible, but it’s not even close to what the majority of the reviews claim. People have already mentioned the benefits and proximity to the beach, so I’ll skip that. I’d really like to bring some perspective to the reviews you see here. After some critical reviews appeared on this site, management underwent a small campaign to combat them with overwhelmingly positive reviews from current employees, made obvious not only by their content, but by the dates in which they appeared on this site. It’s also painfully obvious that multiple reviews have been left by one individual. For christ’s sake, just read the review titled "Super Fun, Stellar Management, and BOOMING business” if you can stomach it, and compare it to a few others.

Cons

The cons have been elaborated on in a few other reviews, so I think you can gleam enough from that. Like I said, if you maintain a positive attitude and try to ignore the drama and BS, you should be fine until you can land a better job. A more professional attitude by management would have been appreciated as well.

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Modus Group Response
10y
I am sorry your experience working at Modus was negative. It seems that the experience was negative enough to really make an impression on you. I am not sure what years you worked at the company, so it's hard for me to comment on what could have made your experience bad at that time. We went through a lot of phases that were tough. We had one business model wind down dramatically, while the telematics business started climbing. We had periods of being significantly under-staffed which led to high workloads. There were some rollercoaster moments. Unfortunately, important areas like; culture, environment, and general employee happiness tend to take a back seat during survival times. It is far from ideal, but it happens. We have emerged from that darker period and have become a stable, thriving, small company that puts effort into our employees. I think that most of the people, who presently work at Modus, have a different outlook. I have personally made significant efforts to create a better environment for everyone. It's hard for me to agree with the comment about "frat boy humor". Although, I don't really know what you meant by saying that. About 50% of our employees are women. I personally was never in a fraternity. I have nothing against them, I just had different interests in college. I hope that you have found a work environment that fulfills you. Best luck with your career. Brandon Johnson

Explore other reviews about Modus Group

5.0
Dec 10, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* Great people. * Organized projects. * Coffee. * Video games. * Talented developers. * Laid back environment.

Cons

Communication with remote teams in different timezones.

2.0
Apr 23, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Modus is located very close to the beach, which makes for some pleasant beach trips either before or after work. It's also right next to a grocery store, so if you every lose your bathroom key, you only have to race across the street and not get hit by a car in order to relieve yourself.

Cons

Modus is not a terrible place to work, but it is far from ideal, and unless you're trying to get your foot in the door, why would you want to work for a mediocre company? In terms of the tasks you work on, it is very disorganized, and work is delegated on an ad hoc basis despite attempts to delegate. Frequently, whatever you are working on will set aside to work on a new "hot fix", which will comprise the bulk of your work. You can also look forward to staying late, and occasionally working on the weekend. Expect to catch some flak for leaving on time every now and then. In terms of culture, this is their weakest point. The office is small, quiet, and there's a strong chance you will work in a cubicle. In my time there, there seemed to be absolutely no interest on the part of management to make Modus an attractive place to work.

10
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Modus Group Response
10y
I appreciate this review. A lot of which was said here was completely true. We were, and are in a phase of some significant growth. We had more customer opportunity than we did developers to create the product needed. This created the mess described in the review. We were chasing our tail, and did not have enough staff to get all of the work done. (hence the long hours). The office was also drab, outdated, and yes, there were cubicles. Here is what changed... In July, we moved into a new office space upstairs. It is about 5X larger than the previous space and was completely remodeled. Developers do not work in cubicles. They mostly work on open tables setup on in pods. However, we have several other spaces people can work. There is a large conference room, and a small conference room. There is a lounge with a couch, comfortable chairs and bean bags. There is a standing desk area. There is also a rec room with more comfortable seating. We encourage people to work wherever they want. This is why we built out all of these spaces. I absolutely did care about creating a better environment, and that is why I made the investment in building out the space. The work hours are under much better control now. We are striving to hire more direct employees, but it is not an easy task for a small company that is located outside of one of the major tech regions. We have more than doubled the size of our development team using both on-shore and off-shore contractors. In the end, we want employees, but the contractors help absorb a lot of the workload making everyone’s life easier. I appreciate the reviewer’s honest assessment of their experience. It helped me make improvements and create a better environment. Brandon Johnson, CEO
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