SoftRock Reviews
Updated Mar 18, 2019
"Free food on Fridays and soda/ popcorn machines" (in 17 reviews)
"I really like how approachable everybody is in this work environment" (in 17 reviews)
"Long hours, it's a long day to reach 6 hours of talk time" (in 18 reviews)
"Management didn't like that I was going off script, but I told them these prospects had no reason to go into debt for school loans" (in 13 reviews)
"Terrible"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at SoftRock full-time for less than a year
Pros
None to speak of ...
Cons
Everything others have said is true
Advice to Management
This place is a fraud --- Close up shop!
SoftRock2019-03-18- Helpful (1)
"a fish rots from the head down"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at SoftRock full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
some great coworkers. bar-b-ques on fridays and flag football and fun culture in a wannabe google way (but not nearly as good, obviously)
Cons
a fish rots from the head down, and the ceo is a convicted felon (fraud). he created a company to trick people into thinking they were applying for jobs but in reality all we were doing was trying to get them to enroll in for profit schools. the same for profit schools that are in the news for ripping students off and closing.
Advice to Management
close. oh. wait. you. did. loooooool
SoftRock2018-11-27 - Helpful (2)
"Terrible"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at SoftRock full-time
Pros
Free food on Fridays and soda/ popcorn machines
Cons
Feeling like you sold your soul for a few bucks to trick people thinking they're getting a job but you're really selling them on education they don't need/ want.
Advice to Management
Close
SoftRock2017-11-27 - Helpful (1)
"Employee"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at SoftRock full-time
Pros
Met some great people during my employment
Cons
Owner was shady and had spent time in prison for fraud. Wish I knew this before I even interviewed.
Advice to Management
Have an owner who's not a career prisoner.
SoftRock2017-10-26 - Helpful (1)
"Not the best place to work"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at SoftRock full-time for less than a year
Pros
For being a call center, they could be a lot of fun if you had the right schedule. Every Friday they had a cookout lunch and would really go all out for holidays.
Cons
It was a call center. I was also in the group where they tried the 4 day - 10 hour shifts which was not fun. Being on the phones for 10 hours was exhausting. I would get in at 11am and leave at 10pm, meaning all I did was work on those days. My days off weren't together so I never really got to recoup. And one of those days happened to be a Friday so I never got the perks of being there after training ended. The... only day they were closed was Sunday so if you were new there or not performing as well as they wanted, you were most likely working all day Saturday as well. However, they advertise and tell you that you will be working M-F 8:30-6 or something like that. And then they give you your schedule and do nothing to work with you.
Show MoreAdvice to Management
Care about your employees more.
SoftRock2017-02-03 - Helpful (2)
"It was good while it lasted"
StarStarStarStarStar- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI have been working at SoftRock full-time for more than 5 years
Pros
I did make really good money
Cons
No employee recognition unless you wore skimpy clothes and was ready to put out
Advice to Management
Some were good some were a joke
SoftRock2017-01-16 - Helpful (4)
"Stay away... Stay far away"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at SoftRock full-time for more than a year
Pros
Football, culture, free food, and the parties.
Cons
Really funny that this section is termed con... Alec Difrawi himself is a con.
Advice to Management
Never apply anything that you learned in management to any other position in the future. Also stay far away from Alec.
SoftRock2017-01-18 - Helpful (1)
"Overworked and Underpaid"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
I worked at SoftRock for more than a year
Pros
Tons of great people and culture
Cons
lower pay, long hours, tedious upper management
Advice to Management
i was a manager
SoftRock2016-12-20 - Helpful (4)
"The Willy Wonka of secondary education marketing"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at SoftRock full-time for less than a year
Pros
Being around beautiful, idealistic young people who were trying to build careers, and pay their bills. Many of them would sit with me in the break room during lunch to discuss their goals, hopes for marriage and families someday. I saw tremendous potential based on the people that were hired. The employees wanted to create a system that actually produced results to benefit all the unemployed Americans who were... disillusioned by Obama's America.
Show MoreCons
Seeing an organization of so many talented, enthusiastic people getting conned, while they read scripts to deceive poorly educated people who were desperate to find jobs. In my last few months the management began routing seniors to my desk. These were lonely folks in their 60s-70s, and I would have respectful, motivational conversations with them. Management didn't like that I was going off script, but I told... them these prospects had no reason to go into debt for school loans. We parted ways.
Show MoreAdvice to Management
There is a place in the afterlife reserved for the creators of this scam, that will be warm and toasty for you.
SoftRock2016-09-11 - Helpful (9)
"50 Shades of SoftRock: Beware of Future Endeavors"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Compensation and Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at SoftRock full-time for more than a year
Pros
Free drinks, popcorn, corn hole, etc. (though most of these things were only for recruiting purposes). I created long lasting friendships that transcend the bureaucracy of a corrupt business model.
Cons
SoftRock closed in March of 2016 for good reason, so the intention of this review is to warn job seekers interested in applying for positions in any company managed by or affiliated with Alec Difrawi (Alec Defrawy, Michael Defrawy, Ayman El-Difrawi, Ayman A. El-Difrawi, Ayman Ahmed El-Difrawi or whatever he feels like being called on a day-to-day basis) in the future. Stay away from this man. He shouldn't be allowed... to start new companies, but he'll always find a way like the greedy, seedy scam artist he is. It feels so good to say all of these things now. When you float around the inner circle (by working hard, not sexing it up), you quickly learn how bad the gossip is. Cons of working for this man, the managers he chose, and the horrible empire he built: discrimination, sexual harassment, unfair wages, immoral extracurricular and company activities (girls in bathing suits for a prank on an almost all-male tech department, girls in athletic wear for a silly commercial made for an education partner to like us, drinking on the job, etc.), chauvinistic management practices, false promises (partner-affiliated lawsuit payouts to employees who hadn't received quarterly bonuses or salary raises in a year or more), personal vendettas, and impromptu meetings either early in the morning (an hour or two before your shift starts) or very late in the day (when you should be driving home or you should have already been home for an hour) because Alec "doesn't sleep" and so he thought of another brilliant plan to look like a legit company while still robbing consumers. Oh I forgot to mention many of these positive Glassdoor reviews are fake, the result of Alec asking his managers and prized personnel to flood these sorts of job boards with positive messages about working for him. In reality, working for him made me resent the marketing business. We duped people, we made false promises to candidates, we fired people for terrible reasons, and we hired the wrong people because they looked great in skirts and low-cut blouses. If you want to respect yourself, gain actual experience in your industry, and capitalize on that experience in the long run, don't work for any company owned or operated by Alec Difrawi. Run in the other direction. I learned my lesson the hard way, even though I was applying and interviewing for various positions within six months of working there. I somehow lasted (and couldn't leave, because SoftRock was and is a sore spot on my resume) almost three years. Don't waste your precious professional time on him or the brand he's shoving down your throat. He doesn't know what he's talking about and he will never, contrary to his wanton belief, start a truly innovative company like Google. He's not capable, and he's not as smart as he thinks he is.
Show MoreAdvice to Management
Find a conscience and settle into a career that actually leaves the world a better place when you leave it. Forget SoftRock, Alec, and anything else that "shaped you" during your experience there.
SoftRock2016-08-18