account representative

account manager

marketing coordinator

sales representative

specialist

Carahsoft Technology Corporation

Carahsoft is a software sales company built by a genius CEO, whose model of providing government clients with software solutions from industry titans such as Adobe, VMware, Symantec, HP and IBM is a proven success. The experience for a typical account representative usually varies depending on what sales team/director you report to. As a whole, most account representatives enjoy working at Carahsoft. It is a casual atmosphere that caters towards its predominant workforce: college students fresh from graduation. Company trips, happy hours, etc. are among the many rewards that the sales teams receive in return for their hard work throughout the year. Overall most of them have a good experience.

For those like myself (who were NOT hired in a sales role at Carahsoft) the experience may still vary. My department frequently experienced major team turnover during my employment due to dissatisfaction with our ineffective director and our bleak work situation. For starters, our director employed the same methodology used by the sales teams to hire team members, which was ineffective considering that college graduates possess little experience in our specialized line of work. Her best quantifier of a potential candidate was their ability to "hit the ground running." Meaning that she wouldn't have to spend time training them at all. 

Really the only thing I can come up when asked what my director did every day is...delegate tasks to everyone except herself. It is one thing to delegate when you are extremely busy, but she was never doing actually doing anything unless myself or one of the team members had a call scheduled for her to sit in on. The rest of her time was spent surfing Twitter and on Deltek's website looking up articles for us to read. 

Our director's hands off demeanor and false "I'm always available to help" proclamations accomplished nothing in tandem. If we asked her for help she was usually unable to properly answer us or just immediately forwarded our request to someone else. It only served to make our team members' lives more miserable as they struggled to gain a foothold while learning our craft at rapid speed. On the plus side, our situation galvanized us to become quickly self-sufficient, but at a complete loss of morale and desire to put forth a good finished product. That type of attitude is always dangerous within the workplace, but this was disregarded so long as we continued to crank out completed projects.

During my time I witnessed my director attempt to give a new hire a full-scale project on his third day in the office. Keep in mind that this was someone who had graduated less than a month earlier and had no prior experience in this field. I could go into more detail about our poor management, but that would be better served for a novel. 

The actual work itself was not bad, once you learn how to properly manage each project on your own. And given the close-knit nature of our small team, it helps the situation to have 3 or 4 other folks that are in the same boat. The other team members and I always tried to have each others back, because we knew what is was like to be alone and stressing like crazy over a project that was going south.

I'm also grateful for the level of experience I received. Working on proposals for many different state, local, federal, and education agencies allowed me to attain a wealth of knowledge about the government procurement process. The level of time I also spent creating documents in Microsoft Word gave me an expert level of understanding of that program as well.

Overall...despite the few awesome perks of the job...I would avoid. If your heart is set on Carahsoft look to one of the sales teams or else find somewhere else to work. It is not worth the level of stress as a presumably young college grad working in this poorly managed environment even though you may attain great experience. I worked there for less than a year and a half....in my time the team experienced complete turnover twice. That speaks for itself.

Pros
-prizes and extra money during busy season -you will get good experience and it’s a decent entry level job, once you get to 2 years you will get more opportunities and will be able to leave -you will learn a lot about the company and the tech world  -if you last 2 years, that experience is pretty impressive to other companies once you start looking
Cons
-my #1 con is that managers at carahsoft are very micromanagey. First off, management wants you to always be glued to your desk and if you walk away for more than 15 minutes they will be mad. If you don’t respond right away it’s like the end of the world (when it’s not). They will send you emails and ask what you were doing during those “20 minutes” you were away. Which is none of their business:). Second, it seems that managers/other team leads never fully trust you. If you mess up even a little bit, they will get angry and make it seem like it’s the end of the world. Even being there into a year, they won’t trust you to do anything. Third, managers will call you out on something that you did wrong in the team group chat. They say it’s because they’re trying to “help you learn from your mistakes and get feedback” but in reality it’s so embarrassing. Lastly, managers praise you once in a blue moon and you never know what you’re doing right. Only what you’re doing wrong.  -unpaid overtime, you’re paid as a salaried employee so no pay for overtime. It doesn’t seem too crazy until you realize you’re practically working overtime every single day out of the year. You sometimes end 5:30, normally starting at middle of the month it could be 6 or 7. And during September or June you’re most likely working until 1am EOM. Then during September it’s late late every day. They do have times where you work 8am-5:30pm but they don’t have that during their busy times?! So they can say oh it’s a treat during non busy times…don’t know how that works.  -working on the weekends!!!!!! There’s no sense of work life balance at carahsoft, once you sign your offer letter you’re practically signing your life away for 2 years. In September or other times when EOM falls on a weekend, they expect you to WILLING sign up to be “on call”. Excuse me am I a doctor?! No I’m an order management specialist. If you don’t sign up or have something to do that weekend they will get mad and tell you that you “have to make accommodations” and you WILL work next time. -last one, I started working during covid when the world hadn’t opened yet. Now that the world has opened, maintaining this horrible non existent work life balance is hard. There’s not a lot of PTO and since you’re working late a lot of the time its hard to relax during certain months. Working until you’re eyes are stinging is hard to do every month!! It’s hard to plan time to hang with family and friends or relax!! I feel like I need a vacation from carahsoft after working for 2 years here!!!! Lastly Working NYE is the worst!!!!!!! So if you want to experience and can last 2 years go for it, but you will give up your life ngl. I was able to do it, but I really don’t recommend it.
Advice to Management
Less micromanagey managers, there’s no need to watch over employees like a hawk. People have lives, things come up, it’s ok to take 20 minutes to go to the bathroom. Also, try to build trust with your employees. Tell them what they’re doing correct, what they’re doing wrong but in a healthy way. Less scrutiny will lead to employees feeling a sense of happiness that they know what they’re doing. Lastly, pay for overtime the amount of overtime at this job is ridiculous and a gift card of $100 doesn’t make up for the bags under my eyes.

I, personally, do not enjoy the company. But that is only one opinion. I find the atmosphere to be stifling and constricting. My hours are longer than they should be because I feel like the expectation is that all of your work needs to be completed before the end of your day. Not everyone on my team feels that way, but that is how I see the job. It's also a noted fact that taking time off for anything is a gamble. It means that your work will not be covered and that you will be coming back to extra work the next day. Extended vacations are usually covered, but if you're out sick for a few days, your work will pile up because no one is able to take it.

The management only has two extremes: not involved or Micro-Managing. I have people above me who pay me no never mind and others will send me email after email demanding that I stop what I'm doing and work on their issues. It is a noted fact that some of the management within the company is a source of the issues we are trying to fix.

For the amount of work I do on a daily basis, and my department as a whole, we are criminally underpaid and dangerously understaffed. most of us are stretched pretty thin as it is and are already working long hours when we shouldn't be. Magnify that in July, August, and September which are our busiest months and it becomes mind breaking and unbearable.

I have met people who love the work they do and enjoy the company, but I don't see it. It causes more stress than it's worth for me and it isn't providing a work experience I would recommend.

Important things to note
1. Your experience at Carahsoft will be luck of the draw
2. You will be hired really quickly if you give interest in applying to the account representative (sales) position.  Any other position and you'll be sitting in recruiting for a while.

The people there are great and fun to work with, and my experience with the vendors I supported was equally as wonderful.  The workflow is very dynamic, although there are some mundane tasks you'll frequent.  It's a great starting point to gain white collar experience and corporate understanding.

The biggest downside is that there's a lot of micromanagement tools at play: logging all calls, emails, all changes you make in their CRM, it's a lot of big brother looking over your shoulder.  Coupled with this, you're expected to keep activity up even when all work you have for that day is finished, so you end up doing busy nothingwork.  The standards for promotion are somewhat bizarre and not very clearly outlined.  You're expected to take tasks assigned to you without question, including covering for someone for *5 MONTHS*, essentially doing 2 peoples jobs, with no extra pay.  

Again, your experience is a roll of luck, and working with other teams (marketing etc.) is a roll of luck as well.  I made out overall okay, despite it looking like I was assigned to one of the more difficult teams.  Great company for fresh out of college folks looking to gain experience, but you'll either be there for under 2 years, or for a very long time.

Many of the jobs you can get at Carahsoft are good resume builders, it’s a good place to start or restart your career, but the company is still being run as if there are only 300 staff members. While team members and team leads tend to be supportive, at any given time new arbitrary company standards will be thrown into place that all bolster carahsoft’s image of a “Proactive Sales & Marketing” company. 

There is no sales, there is lead generation. There is cold calling government agencies 9-5 5 days a week in support of your technology vendor whose extremely well compensated sales team decide not to show up half the time for meetings after you gave up a piece of your soul carving thru outdated/poorly maintained call lists in the effort of obtaining a lead meeting. A lead meeting that rarely if ever gains you the traction needed to live up to the ever increasing standards of an IT distributor trying to wear too many hats in a heavily  saturated market. The team I worked with were all truly excellent individuals, I just couldn’t rationalize working for an employer who reduces all of their “sales” teams’ efforts to fluff and then expects anything beyond that. 

Stop breeding loyalists who rely on derision to hold people accountable, while randomly holding employees to godlike standards on industry wide minimal wages, give legitimate incentives (not we MIGHT give bonuses or MIGHT give you a raise if you write daily essays about why you deserve it), and the excellent workforce you employ may have the basic bandwidth to excel as both humans and employees.

A huge caveat to this review is that the company is split by teams - and each team can function quite differently. Teams represent vendors the company supports. 

If you put in the effort, there is much to learn about inside sales, technology, working through a distribution channel, and more. I came into this job after graduating college and was surprised at the professional growth from a year alone.

Nevertheless, I believe the cons outweigh the pros. Fresh-out-of-college is a common story for nearly the whole company. It's great for company socializing, but you won't find a mentor here. There is no commission, so for your first year, you are paid the same as other new hires - regardless of who puts in more work. Normally, I understand the need to monitor employees, but when it comes down to the number of clicks you've made, the exact amount of time you're away from your desk, and having to block everyday sites like Gmail - it can feel like too much. There are also just under 900 employees in a small building. If the majority are men, imagine sharing 8 stalls between 500-600 people. The parking lot is atrocious as well, once taking me half an hour to get out of the lot to begin my hour commute back home. Hours have no flexibility.

Most importantly, there is no room for growth. After one year, there may be a pay bump, but it will be to continue doing the same tasks with the same title. The only way to move up is if the incumbent senior member leaves or if the vendor OEM grows and it creates a need within your team.

It's a good opportunity for people who are fresh out of college and are looking to get into the workforce. Finding a job when you have limited work experience is challenging and can cause a crippling level of self doubt. Sending out 20+ applications and getting rejected without any real explanation can cause you to lose confidence. If you're in a desperate situation like I was post undergrad and literally just need a job, they will hire you. They also provide you with a lot of training and allow you to make mistakes which many companies don't do. There is no HR so you are at the mercy of your managers. At a company with 2,000+ employees this can cause everyone's experience to be vastly different. I was lucky enough to be put on a team which operates professionally and has never made me feel uncomfortable or overworked. My manager till this day has been an absolute role model. I can't say that's the same experience for everyone else. I've literally heard horror stories from friends in other departments about toxic managers who devalue their employee's and do not compensate them. Those types managers also gaslight employees into thinking everything is their fault. The pay is not at all competitive for this industry/the DMV area during your first 6 months.

Pros
If you get on the right team, it can be a great place to learn and grow. They love to promote people as well if they like you. The CEO pays for a company trip for everyone or gives $1000 with bonus PTO days if we meet our sales goals. He also pays for pies for everyone for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you stay for 4 years he’ll pay for you to go anywhere in the world for a week. They also don’t like to fire people here, so as long as you do your job well and don’t slack off or take advantage of the leeway you’re given, they’re very forgiving when it comes to making mistakes.
Cons
1.) You have to work some holidays without special pay, as well as longer hours at end of quarters and in September with no overtime pay. 2.) Almost every good thing you get here is contingent on the company making more money every year, which just doesn’t seem like a sustainable long term goal. 3.) You don’t get a base pay increase. Your raise is what goes up every year, which is contingent on whatever goals your manager has set. If you don’t meet them and you’re in sales, you could potentially only make the base pay of $42K. Also, the CEO is known to have a temper and be verbally abusive at times. You usually also will only hear from him personally at significant company milestones or if you’ve done something wrong. He is not the boss to randomly reach out and check in or give praise.

I've worked at Carahsoft for nearly four years on a brand new team. Only recently did my manager leave and everything went downhill.

First Three and half years were full of opportunities, enjoyment, and learning. A lot of collaboration across all teams. Very supportive network even though you may not interact with 75% of your coworkers, they will be there for support. Great incentives to keep you motivated. Lots of opportunities for promotions.

Now for the negatives... First, there is a high turnover rate. Why? Pay is terrible but raises are consistent. Pay is split into base salary, and MBOs (monthly business objectives) & QBOs (quarter business objectives). This is great because they all increase both over time and as you take on more responsibilities but terrible because your base pay will be lowered and since the -BOs change consistently (and they are bonuses), it's hard to explain to financial institutions. Second negative is that they mainly tend to promote loyal employees over the more qualified ones. Third, you WILL be overworked. Even though the company is at about 1,500 employees (and growing), your managers will want you to wear multiple hats.  

There isn't a formal HR department... which is probably how Carahsoft is still functioning. There isn't a way to formally document harassment, abysmal pay, or ridiculous expectations because these kids they hire fresh out of college don't know that they are allowed to expect more from an employer. The company has a few particularly excellent employees in the higher ranks, who end up being the talent that keeps the company running, and the talent who keep the poorly trained workforce from wanting to quit. The managers there aren't given any further management training once promoted to that role, so they are poorly equipped to enable their charges' effectiveness as a team and individual professional growth. I think Carahsoft understands that it is a stepping stone, but these issues cause a very high employee turnover, which (until improved or solved) will always keep the company from retaining any new talent. I'm interested to see how the company fares if the new policy on overtime is signed into law, because working unpaid overtime (aka for free) is not uncommon.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Account representative 27 salaries reported	$48,178 per year
Account manager 9 salaries reported	$60,000 per year
Marketing coordinator 7 salaries reported	$45,000 per year
Sales representative 4 salaries reported	$55,750 per year
Specialist 8 salaries reported	$43,200 per year

Working at Carahsoft Technology Corporation: Company Overview and Reviews

Carahsoft Technology Corporation

Carahsoft Technology Corporation Ratings

Popular jobs at Carahsoft Technology Corporation

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected