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SolarCity

Acquired by Tesla

Is this your company?

Churn and Burn, only for young 20 something's that want to get a foot in the solar world - Field Energy Consultant SolarCity Employee Review

1.0
3 Oct 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fun group of people to work with. For young people in their 20's, who haven't worked anywhere else, or who might not have a college degree, this job could be great for them.

Cons

But for those of us who are experienced sales people, especially B2B, this job is a total grind. Very long hours as a Sales Person. Requirements to work weekends and nights. 70-80 hour work weeks. Poor training, for such a large established company. Very bad compensation package, but base salary is good compared to most of the industry. Commission and bonus is based on net sales not gross. So if you sell a job that ends up having a bad roof (something you as the sales person could never know.), then those jobs don't count toward your bonus goal and you don't make commission on them. There are usually 2-3 of these per month. Also the company is growing so fast, there are large gaps in most everyone's knowledge through the whole sales and installation process internally. This makes for frustration on the part of the customer who might not have an ideal situation for installation. With huge goals for each month, your customers become numbers and it is a challenge to provide them with adequate customer service. In addition, because the job is not easy and the hours long, the management staff regularly has rah rah meetings and quite frequently smacks of the religion of SolarCity dogma where one might feel one is in a large cult meeting, rather than a SolarCity corporate sales meeting. And lastly, the HR department is extremely absent. It is difficult to get a hold of anyone while you are there and almost impossible after you have left on good terms. They didn't even provide an exit interview. The whole company seems to be flying by the seat of their pants. In fact, the worst part is that the company slickly gets around paying commission, which is a sales person's salary and should be paid by law in California. But the company says you don't get commission if it isn't "earned". Meaning, paid to you on a check while you still work there. This is completely bogus and any commission on deals that have been through final contract should be paid. Very shady. Just know this going in. It is a shame that this company talks out of both sides of their mouths. Yes, they are green and really promoting solar and saving the world from global warming. But on the other hand, they do not treat their sales staff well and literally cheat those leaving out of part of their salaries.

Explore other reviews about SolarCity

5.0
21 Oct 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good pay and no supervision working at the different Home Depots

Cons

Having to make numbers and sales

4.0
22 Mar 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Just to quantify my review a bit, I am within the top 10% of inside sales reps within our 12,000 person company. It is a great place to work and people doing well ARE able to make good money here. The executive team ALWAYS has a platform for reps to help make SolarCity a better place every quarter. They involve the top 20 reps each quarter in various ways to help their peers through an interactive group called Team Elite. Executives, VP's, Directors, and Managers are always willing to help and go to bat when there are issues with things that need to be fixed. The direction of the company is consistent and although the company is large, decision makers work as hard as possible to steer the big ship quickly when necessary.

Cons

Knee jerk reactions with decision making at a director level create issues from time to time. Culture has had its ups and downs due to HUGE growth last year and subsequent high attrition rates.

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