| Relationship Sales Engineer IV |
Verizon is an enormous company. ENORMOUS! It is split into numerous
operating companies any one of which would be a Fortune 500 company on
its own.
I am in the Enterprise Solutions Group, selling telecom solutions to
Fortune 1000, Government (Federal, State, Local), and Higher Education
customers.
The atmosphere is very pleasant. It is the most racially diverse
organization I have ever worked for, but race is not even an after-
thought here, people are oblivious to race.
There are two factors which really influence the culture: 1) management
level and 2)geographic location. Starting with the second, you'll find
each Verizon office really reflects the culture of the surrounding
areas. The Baltimore office reflects the culture of Baltimore: fairly
laid back, unpretentious, even slightly working-class. So if you don't
like the culture of the area, work is not going to be a refuge.
The other factor is management level. Obviously, the higher up in
management you examine, the more similarities appear in the character of
those employees. At Verizon, there is about 100 levels of management
(I'm only slightly joking). Of course this reflects an abuse of the
term management: it's often confused here because of the dichotomy
between union and non-union workers. The non-union workers are all
referred to as 'management.' But back to the point. There are about
six tiers below me and another six from the senior most executive
level. At this level, there is a good mix of ambitious young people,
but there are far more career people.
Verizon is definitely a company you could stay with for life. Last year
a voluntary separation package was offered and some of the 30+ year
veterans left with a low seven figure package. At the level above me we
get into the assistant directors and they are more ambitious on the
whole. They usually only occupy their positions for a few years before
moving up to the next level.
Verizon is a terrific place to develop skills as they pay $5k per year
towards tutition without really questioning the purpose of the courses
you're taking. They have tons of online training for developing not
only technical skills but also soft skills. One example would be a
course called 'Leading without authority' explaining how to lead a group
when no clear lines of authority exist.
But more importantly, there are a lot of veterans here and so you can
find yourself in a de facto master-apprentice relationship where there
isn't as much pressure on you to perform while you're learning the
ropes.
Most of the people I work with have been at the company a minimum of 10
years. You get the sense here that it's more of a neighborhood than a
workplace and all your colleagues have a particular trait that becomes a
handle for them. For example, there's one guy in our group who uses
fancy words, but always to humorous effect. When he gets up to present,
everyone is waiting to hear what his fancy word is for that day and he
never disappoints. There's the football fan, the RV guy, the word-
master, the quiet guy who you should stay away from (just kidding). You
get the picture.
Okay, now the bad stuff. Our customers hate us. Okay, not hate us, but
we are a target. Everyone will ask you "Why is my phone bill so screwed
up?" Don't believe me? Ivan Sidenberg, the CEO testified on telecom
reform in front of a senate committee and Sen. Frank Laughtenburg asked
him to explain his phone bill. (Sen. McCain seconded)
People do not meet you with outright hostility, unless they are your
customers. We get a lot of things right, but people only remember the
screw-ups: a T-1 didn't get installed on time, a cancelled account is
still being billed $6k/month, etc. After a while, you develop a
thickened skin and the ability to empathize with your customers while
offering them no substantive resolution of their complaint. Afterall,
for most of them, Verizon is the only game in town.
Another downer is the complexity of the company. It was six months
before I realized which one of the operating companies I had actually
been working for (Verizon Enterprise Solutions Group, not Verizon
Network Integration Corp. Can you tell the difference?). Getting things
done is rarely a matter of procedure but more like a matter of calling
in favors. Because there is the ability to really move around in the
company, the guy you used to work with who is now in Texas becomes your
inside track on getting something delivered faster, installed sooner,
etc. I feel obliged to be everyone's friend because at some point I'm
going to need something and I'm not going to get it by following the
channels but by calling in the favors.
It can be very frustrating at times. Verizon has not really recovered
from the break up of AT&T. There are many many rules that if broken
have serious consequences for the company and your career. That's why
it often feels like you are getting things done in spite of Verizon, not
because of Verizon. However, if we could get out of our own way, this
company would seriously be able to rule the planet.
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