I'm a current employee, and I'm only chiming in here because the internet hate for this company is just out of control. I'll preempt the obvious, and say that yes, this is the extent of my Reddit activity because I don't really like Reddit, not because anyone asked me to do this or anything. I normally avoid any of this stuff, but all the bratty internet venting from newly unemployed children is beginning to affect the ability of many of us who care about such things to actually do our jobs.

Yes, Search Influence hires a lot of entry level employees. That means that if you're applying to work there, you probably don't have much - if any - experience that would be required to work most other places. If all those significantly higher paying jobs are beating down the door to hire you, then why on earth would you take the job in the first place?

As such, yes, the starting pay is low. On the other hand, I got hired there for what I'd bet is way less than anyone on this thread did with the intent of getting some tech experience and working that experience into something I could make into better pay elsewhere. Importantly, I never expected to be handed the damn world after 6-12 months of tenure though. Nor should anyone anywhere at any job, particularly if you're coming in with minimal experience in any field.

I was thoroughly and patiently trained up, well beyond the position I was hired for. The money increased gradually, and yeah, it was probably low compared to equivalent job titles elsewhere for a time. It was also true, however, that there was no way I'd have GOTTEN those equivalent jobs with the experience I had. And eventually, by the time I HAD gotten enough experience to start realistically going after those jobs, I realized I was actually making about what I could expect elsewhere anyway.

I know different people have had different experiences. No, it's not perfect, and I've complained very vocally and directly about a lot of shit at the place at times during my tenure. But it's certainly not the dungeon-like meatpacking factory recently departed workers seem to take such pleasure in making it out to be. They hire a lot of young, inexperienced people often fresh out of college, which also translates to "people without much perspective on the grownup working world and/or the job market." If you want to view that as taking advantage of low-wage workers, OK I guess. Does anyone think any company ISN'T trying to get as much value out of their staff as they can for the least amount of money? But if you want to make it a reciprocal thing, you can get a lot of value back in knowledge and experience - and ultimately, in my experience, a legitimately paying, solid job - if you're willing to put in some time at low entry level pay. Maybe you'll still want to leave, and you'll still find better opportunities elsewhere. Fine. Congratulations. But you just don't come into an entry level job with no relevant experience and expect to be making what someone far more experienced would make after 6 months or a year or whatever and then try to set the place on fire behind you on the way out the door like you've been wronged in some unforgivable way. 1 year feels a lot longer to a 23 and 24-year-olds than it does to people who have spent a whole bunch more years getting screwed over by company after company with nothing - not even the valid experience - to show for it.

As for the other accusations, yes, there is a non-compete. I had a lawyer look at mine and was told it wasn't really enforceable. I heard they used to send out cease and desists when people left for other tech jobs in the past, which is definitely heavy-handed and in bad taste, but also isn't a lawsuit and didn't end up ever preventing someone from taking the job they wanted as far as I've heard. I also haven't heard of even that much happening in a while, but I wouldn't honestly know. But if you think Search Influence's internet practices are black hat at this point, you just don't know what that even means. If anything, I wish we were shadier than we are. It'd be more fun that way.

Whatever, I hate that I've spent any of my own time participating in this dumb, juvenile shitshow, but maybe someone will read this and put some of this disgruntled whining in perspective. And if you're an inexperienced and overly entitled brat with unreasonable expectations for an entry level job in 2015 and outlandish estimations of your own knowledge and abilities, then no, please do not work for Search Influence. The rest of us have suffered through enough of you over the years.