WordStream Reviews

3.9

66% would recommend to a friend

(109 total reviews)

Mitchell Leiman

83% approve of CEO

55% positive business outlook

WordStream has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 109 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The WordStream 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

109 reviews
1.0
Mar 16, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The job paid decently for what it was and the people I worked with were nice, except for one who ruined it for everyone by being a sociopath.

Cons

Sociopathic management literally looking over your shoulder. Having to crank out nearly-identical content over and over and over for the sake of long-tail keyword landing pages. A freezing cold cube farm where nobody took a lunch break and played the game of 'get in the earliest and stay the latest' for no reason.

1.0
Feb 24, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The CEO seems like a really smart guy and if he knew what was going on upstairs in his sales department, I think he would be very disappointed.

Cons

Working here was one of the biggest mistakes I have made for my career, but a great learning experience. I clearly did not do my due diligence prior to taking the job, and that is a mistake I will not make again. Company Culture: You get into the office, sit in a dingy cubicle and call terrible leads all day. You eat lunch at your desk and clock in/clock out. Sometimes there are events after work- for instance the softball team that none of the new reps were invited to. There are also "happy hours" where you sit in your cube and drink beer while looking at your computer. The "work hard, play hard" culture that they sell simply doesn't exist. The Leads/Quota: They called them "Sales Qualified Leads," which to a salesperson who is used to cold calling sounds amazing- warmed up leads! Instead these are just people who have visited the website once and are considered hot leads. The quota is also completely absurd. They have multiplied their salesforce by at least 3x and have not increased the amount of leads that are coming in... and yet, they still operate with the same quota system. While I was there, only 2 or 3 (very senior) members of the team hit their goal. No one else was paid commission. Management: there is no training, guidance or encouragement. When I started I sat down in my cube and was told to read a pamphlet about AdWords. We talked a lot about trainings that would be helpful... and then never did them. My manager was discouraging, selfish, rude, and consumed with his own issues. He contradicted himself daily, set new expectations hourly, and showed up late to meetings. Managers should be there to foster the growth of their employees, not worry about their own quota and blame their reps when things aren't going right. It is a tough job and is certainly not for everyone- so don't promote one of your best reps just because there is no where else for him/her to move.

2.0
Aug 29, 2020

Avoid

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Wordstream was an amazing place to work for the first 2.5 years I was there. I met some of my best friends there and I truly enjoyed going to work everyday. Our previous CEO was great, Howard Kogan, and I truly enjoyed my higher ups. Felt like they had our best interests at heart.

Cons

After two mergers - the entire culture and company changed. You were no longer apart of a growing startup driven by innovation, but rather just a pawn in a chess game. We all became just a number. After laying off 30% of the company, which included senior members of the company and our CEO it seems that they no longer care for WS to have its own culture. The new CEO/CFO seems to have no idea what WS did - or does, only has numbers on his mind. Someone mentioned that this is a sinking ship, and they are right. The people who are still there are the orchestra on the Titanic. It has become very corporate and all of the great benefits seem to be lost - i.e. unlimited PTO, office outings, company events, and most importantly transparency. WS used to be transparent and then it became clear that it no longer felt the need to relay changes to the employees. With many big changes happening via email - not a meeting. When they laid off 30% of the company, they did it in a Zoom meeting day of, and many who were laid off were not able to attend due to existing client calls. Some found out afterwards when there was just simply an HR meeting on their calendar. It was very impersonal and goes to show that now, they do not care about employees and only the bottom line. The team is overworked and underpaid. It's disappointing that we used to be one of the best places to work in Boston for multiple years - i doubt they even come close to making the list in 2020. All in all getting laid off was a blessing in disguise for the turnover right now is very high. People are upset, overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 109 Reviews

Glassdoor has 114 WordStream reviews submitted anonymously by WordStream employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if WordStream is right for you.