Search Influence Reviews

3.7

67% would recommend to a friend

(84 total reviews)

Will Scott

80% approve of CEO

61% positive business outlook

Search Influence has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 84 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Search Influence employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

84 reviews
2.0
Jun 12, 2015

Don't work here.

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I love my coworkers and I enjoy interacting with them on a day-to-day basis. Everyone has a similar "work-hard, play-hard" mentality and most employees are young and energetic. This is my first full-time job after college and many of my coworkers are in a similar situation. The company also holds a quarterly team-building event, which gives employees a chance to bond with other teams and departments. I have learned quite a bit about the industry and about office life in general in the 10 months since I started at Search Influence.

Cons

The vast majority of employees, myself included, believe we are overworked and underpaid. Apparently we're right around the industry average (according to the CEO), but most employees find that hard to believe - myself included. When I interviewed for a Junior Account Associate. I was told that once I was able to handle several basic job responsibilities (typically 3-6 months in) I would be promoted to Account Associate. AAs make between $14 and $16 hours an hour, **I was told**, depending on experience level. Although I received nothing but positive feedback and I definitely exceeded expectations of the job details by my 3-month mark, I didn't receive a promotion until I asked repeatedly.... and even then my wage increased to only $12.50/hr. I was blatantly lied to during my interview, something I'm still not over. I should have gotten it in writing... (lesson learned) Even after a team-wide raise due to widespread unrest and high employee turnover, I am still significantly below the $14 mark. Compensation at this company is not good, but the fact that I was lied to was even worse. On the Account Management Team, our overall workload has drastically increased since I began - our sales partners bring in an absurd amount of clients - but the number of account managers has decreased by about 20% since 10 months ago. Even working overtime, it is nearly impossible to deliver quality results to each of my 40ish clients. Our processes are convoluted and unnecessary, communication between departments is lacking, transparency with employees is dreadful, and overall there seems to be a major disconnect between upper management and what we all do every day. Our 'research and development' department doesn't ever research ways to make our lives easier and it seems like most of my day is spent doing damage control with clients instead of actually helping anyone's marketing efforts. If I knew how things worked around here and I owned a business, I wouldn't hire us. I actually had a meeting a few months ago with my team Manager, the CEO, and the COO to discuss the employee turnover issue. Since then things have only gotten worse, to the point where I actually decided to leave myself. I am a current employee (as this review says) but in 2 weeks I will no longer be with Search Influence. This may just be my own biases talking, but since I started here employee morale seems to have taken a nosedive and the majority of employees are actively seeking other jobs. In that meeting I referenced earlier, the CEO said something that concerned me. He has a 'survival of the fittest' mentality when discussing employee retention - the people that can handle the work will stay, and the people that can't will leave. Will, I know you'll read this review, so if there's one thing you should take away... that mentality, in my opinion, is a terrible approach. With that mentality some employees may stick around and do what they need to do, but they won't necessarily be happy in the process. Given the sink-or-swim ideology that the CEO believes in, this company feels more like an anchor than a life vest. I'm cutting the chain before I sink any further. The way things are going now is not sustainable. As the quality of our product declines our partner relationships will also, and that will lead to even more work putting out fires on a day to day basis. Then more employees will leave. It's a vicious cycle and I have no idea how the company will ever turn it around. Leadership seems to lack any big-picture solutions to these major problems. Please, do yourself a favor and stay away from this company. Do I regret working here? No, but I certainly wouldn't have accepted this job offer if I knew how things really worked.

avatar
Search Influence Response
11y
Thanks for taking the time to share your feelings. We all appreciate your passion and I'm hopeful you're able to find a place you can put that passion to work productively. While we have always appreciated your work ethic and your dedication to the craft, it's clear that we didn't do a good enough job helping you understand the realities of the work we do. We work for small businesses who really need us. Very few companies can do that successfully. In order to do so, we have to be process oriented. However, to suggest that one shouldn't work with us because you didn't get what you need is unfair to your current teammates, future employees and the organization. There are not many entry level "marketing" jobs in New Orleans. Most companies don't see value in training as we do. And, the fact is that when one is joining their very first company, it's a learning experience. The employee and the employer both have no way to know after 2 - 3 hours of interview if it's the right choice. I am sorry you feel you were lied to. We clearly did a poor job of setting your expectations and that's no one's fault but ours. Please though, rather than being bitter and tearing down the company that so many are very happy to work and grow in, I would ask you to realize that not every job is for everybody and there are plenty of ways to excel at Search Influence. I would have hoped that despite your desire to do something else you would realize this is a good place to start a career and be an advocate for us. Perhaps with time to reflect you still may. You are choosing to do something else and we support that decision. But that's you. That's not everybody, and your experience is not reflective of the dozens of happy, productive and growing employees who will stay.
2.0
Apr 13, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Smart young people - Free Candy - Somewhat nice of an office location - Good health insurance

Cons

- The Pay - Your raises will be $1+ per hour (if you're lucky, most of the times it's less than that) - The amount of clients and accounts you have to manage is pretty insane - Clique-y - Signing your soul when you signed that noncompete

avatar
Search Influence Response
11y
Thanks for your feedback. We are actively working on a number of employee satisfaction issues including pay. I would like to believe that we promote based on aptitude and work ethic, not on with whom one is friends. The good news is that we have data which shows us who performs and who doesn't. We are also able to identify the value of accounts under management. So, when making decisions about who gets promoted, when and to what position, it is more data driven than may be apparent to one who's not directly involved. If one truly is working 45-50 hours / week it would be nearly impossible for their paycheck to be only $1000.00. The average pay rate within our non-salaried account management team is around $13.25 / hour. Some make a little more, and newer folks make a little less. At that rate, with 5 hours of overtime, paid at time and a half, one would be making $32.5K / year. There are some non-salaried members of our account management team who are, because of their hard work, making more than $35K / year annualized. Those folks aren't complaining about pay and they're asking what they need to do to move up. Again, thanks for your feedback. We are working to improve everyone's experience. Best of luck in your future endeavors.
1.0
Apr 20, 2015

Internet Marketing Associate

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- People keep putting "casual dress" as a pro, but keep in mind that a majority of companies with a large team of in-house developers and writers, such as Search Influence, don't enforce a strict dress code. Sales reps do still need to dress up (they meet clients). Overall, this is an unsubstantial "pro" in comparison with the cons. - This company takes the time to train you (over a period of approximately two months), and this experience is invaluable for future professional endeavors . - Your time at this company serves as an excellent "foot in the door" for recent grads hoping to amp their resume. **Beware of the non-compete agreement. If you want to continue working in online marketing/SEO, but find yourself unhappy here, the agreement will prohibit you from working with competitors throughout the country for at least two years following termination of employment. If you feel like you fit in (which I certainly didn't but many seemed to like each other) you may enjoy some nights out with coworkers. Once every few months, they host a fun "team building event".

Cons

I came to this website prior to my interview and had been under the impression that a small number of disgruntled employees write the negative reviews. As a result, I took the positive reviews to hold more weight, and I accepted the job without evaluating my other options. After more than half a year with the company, I learned that a majority of the positive reviews are likely "reputation control" efforts being made by upper management. There is such a stark contrast between the positive reviews in defense of this company versus the more critical ones due to the blatant fact that SI does a horrible job keeping their employees happy (or even content for that matter). It seems that upper management would rather confuse prospective employees by contrasting honest reviews and criticisms with unjustified claims* of this being "an excellent place to learn and grow professionally". Perhaps they feel the need to do this because of their high turn around (notice WorkNOLA constantly has ads for SI)... - Management is out to save their own necks and will throw lower-level employees under the bus to do so. -- Unless you are good friends with someone in upper management, you will not go anywhere in this company. -- Management will hold even the tiniest of mistakes against you during your review. I have seen management bring up incidences that occurred months beforehand (of which didn't seem like a big deal at the time). This is their way of justifying a pitiful raise (50cents) or lack of a pay increase altogether. -- You can't trust anyone higher ranked than you to have your back (even friends). Upper management, senior marketers, and team leads would rather see you take the fall for a mistake they are partially accountable for than to stand up for you and take some responsibility. - Production employees are despicably underpaid. -- Sure, SI may claim that they offer competitive wages, but for the amount of pressure and micro managing, SI doesn't seem to grasp the concept of "you get what you pay for". They should be investing in trying to motivate their employees or at least allow them more time to produce quality work. -- Newly hired Account reps may have the same qualifications (sometimes less) as a tech/content team member, but reps typically start at $14 while Tech/Ed IMAs typically start at $11. - All employees are micromanaged beyond the point of reasonability. -- You are forced to "time track" every move you make, from using the toilet to grabbing a coffee. Your productivity is measured by this tracking tool. If you are off by a few minutes on the time you spend on a task or two, then you will be penalized during your review. - When SI moved from Oak to the CBD, management boasted about this being a solution to the over-cramped desk space. As SI continues to grow and hire at this (suspiciously) rapid rate, employees are being squeezed together just as tight as before. Everyone is also required to use a circa1990 keyboard and monitor set, and so fitting anything personal on your desk is impossible. The desks are so small in width that it is impossible to rest your entire forearm and the most space you have with the person next to you is just enough to extend your elbows. - SI was named among New Orleans City Business' "Best Places to Work" this past winter. When the issue came out, however, many of us were flabbergasted at the benefits and starting salary listed in the article. According to City Business, SI employees have full health insurance coverage with dental, but this is a lie. The article also stated that the company's average starting salary was $46,000, which was another blatant lie. And, it was extremely frustrating considering that more than a few employees were starting at only $22,000 and could only hope to see a few dollars added to their wage after at least one year. - With how quickly I was hired, this company seemed to good to be true. And, trust me, it is. I would not wish this job on my worst enemy. *I am willing to bet that there will be a positive review posted a few days after this one - Management, once again, will be doing some "reputation control".

avatar
Search Influence Response
11y
Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion. I am sorry you had such a negative experience that you can't imagine there are others who have great experiences working with us. We have plenty of happy current and former employees but clearly we still have work to do making that universal. I would invite you to reach out to me directly with your concerns about your managers. I personally review all exit interviews and your comments regarding your managers not supporting you, above, are both news, and very concerning, to me. It would have been great if you could have brought your concerns above while you were still an employee. Your assertion regarding disparity in pay is incorrect and had you raised this and your other concerns to someone who actually knows we would have been happy to give you the facts. Best of luck in your future endeavors.
Viewing 1 - 3 of 84 Reviews

Glassdoor has 92 Search Influence reviews submitted anonymously by Search Influence employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Search Influence is right for you.