senior software engineer

product support

sales executive

business development representative

sales engineer

Datasite

I worked at this company for over 15 years, and was finally laid off after one of the MANY restructurings they did over the years.  When I first started, I enjoyed the work in accounting and finance.  After around 2006, and after many acquisitions of poorly performing companies and a failed IPO, the accounting leadership changed.  The culture after that was one of distrust, backstabbing, and not fun.  I watched my entire department, except for one or two people, get fired, only to be replaced.  These were good people who did the job they were asked to do.  Fast forward a few years, and nothing really changed, other than Merrill divested of every single business they spent acquiring from 2000-2005.  Beyond that, they divested of almost every other line of business except Datasite.  Datasite was the only reason Merrill stayed afloat all those years.  If you were on that team, you probably enjoyed your time at Merrill.  If you worked anywhere else, probably not so much.  It was cut throat, even between departments and management.  In the end, what was a company of over 5000 people, is now down to maybe 700.  Competition popped up all over the place, and Merrill was late to the game on reinvestment in its Datasite product.  

Pros:  Decent pay, average to decent benefits, free parking, flexiblity to work remotely at times

Cons: Where to start...  Private equity owned, and the PE firm wanted to cash out long ago.  Short sighted investment, senior leadership that seems unsure of what direction to go in, distrust between leaders and departments, limited opportunity for advancement, constant restructuring and layoffs, uncertain future, long hours, and on and on.

I would not advise anyone to work at Merrill, other than maybe on a short term, hourly, contract basis.  The only thing guaranteed at Merrill, is that another restructuring is around the corner, and job security is non-existent.

Typical stratified structure of incompetent leadership making poor decisions surrounding themselves with yes men. You have the elitist top management who are handsomely paid (way overpaid), you have the "good old boy" club that crossed over from May printing (also overpaid), then you have everyone else who had to take a wage freeze for almost 10 years despite already being paid below average for the positions. If you pandered to one of the privileged groups, they might let you in their club. I never felt like my strengths were recognized and rewarded, instead I had to watch others get opportunities for maintaining the status quo rather than working to advance the business or introduce efficiencies into the workflow. When the  mass layoff was announced, positions for which I was fully qualified were denied me based on me not being "qualified". This despite the fact that coworkers with the exact same work experience and arguably less formal education were "qualified". I feel like I wasted at least 10 of the 18 years I worked at Merrill because I favored self integrity over playing the personality game with the power brokers. That is not to say that I didn't get along with people because I got along great with just about everyone I worked with.

The work environment was very crowded and stressful at Merrill Corporation. Management encouraged a sort of false hierarchy, so the sales staff would condescend to the production people and demean their work. Management cared very little for the welfare of its employees; it's attitude was superficial and remote (supervisors worked off site), and hid behind a veil of corporate propriety. Morale was continuously very low. One employee with longstanding social and emotional problems had learned how to play the HR card. She was shuffled around from office to office (St. Paul, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, SF), but managed to get her way by intimidating management with threats of legal action. It was sad to see supervisors coddle to her and acquiesce to her reign of terror. Merrill had a tremendous employee turnover at all levels from production, administrative, through mid-level management. The company spent a tremendous amount of money on employee training and testing, but I don't remember the company ever hosting a holiday party. I would never recommend that anyone I know apply to work at this company, or even this industry.

I love working at Merrill.  Every employee truly cares about their job, the company, and has attitude to go above and beyond for the customer.  It makes working at the company a pleasure when everyone is going for the same goal.  No one ever drops the ball.  There is so such thing as an e-mail going into a black hole.  Everyone does their part, everyone cares about the outcome, and people will troubleshoot when their is an issue.  They don't put a pretty bow on a problem and say it's solved.  They go to the root of the problem and fix it.  They thing about goals and issues realistically, and they communicate those issues all the way to the top.   The company is obsessed with the customer experience, and it makes it so much easier to sell the product when you know everyone in the company is going to do their part to make sure the customer has a great experience.  They have great benefits, they are constantly listening to employee feedback and making changes as complaints are made, and they have a great overall culture.  You won't see cliques or anyone leaving anyone else out, and it honestly just isn't tolerated.  Everyone gets along, and everyone works hard.  I really feel so fortunate to work here, and I'm glad I made the jump several years ago.

Formerly a caring and employee-directed company, since the last CEO retired, the company has changed exponentially.

There are still pockets of great people and opportunities, but that has changed over time. There are often interesting opportunities but you need to watch your back.

The typical day involves punching in and seeing what has happened the previous day or night.

I did learn about SCRUM and Agile but I needed to learn on my own.

Management is typically a mix of knowledgeable and lost. They often care more about their own needs and fears over that of their employees.

The coworkers can be open and helpful but the impact of the company changes is showing!

The hardest part of the job is getting honest and useful direction!

Politics and new executive VPs from our east are definitely impacting the company.

The most enjoyable part of the job is when somebody decides to use your deliverables.

It's so sad: Merrill used to be a great and caring company but no more! Maybe it will change but I'm not confident!

Datasite is a service company that pretends to be a tech company. There's no engineering in its DNA; most senior mangement knows very little about tech (all they do is talking about ideas without caring about how to execute them in reality). Deep down inside its a very sales-driven company. If one is not in sales nor marketing, pay is not great and career opportunities are limited. Favoritism clear exists in the office. If one is not a close friend with manager, there's zero chances for promotion. Also, an upgrade in job title does not necessary mean increase in job duties nor paid salary. Lots of people with fancy titles (director/VP) in the office wandering around not contributing much nor taking responsibility at all. Management would not hesitate to throw one under the bus just to save their jobs. ‘Old Boys Club’ culture. Its a so-so company for unambitious people that are happy to stay in a small pond. Datasite is owned by a venture capital firm, so it could possibly be sold to another company/VC in the future.   

My work environment was toxic to say the least. 20 employees jammed in a very small room. Impossible to have a private conversation because everyone could hear each other. Gossiping and ill will towards other employees was rampant. manager and asst. manager were totally inept, complete clueless phony morons. I spent over 30 years with the U.S. Postal Service and had significantly more knowledge about mail, than the two bozo managers. Which I believe was intimidating to them. Because I have pride and a brain and have no patience for such blatant idiocy, I lasted 2 weeks and quit
If you are not intelligent or wish to be dumbed down to their moronic levels, by all means apply. If you have pride and a brain, stay away from this dysfunctional, toxic, mismanaged firm. In addition the HR Manager is an unprofessional, clueless jerk who doesn't even have the courtesy to return phone calls. STAY AWAY !!!!!!

Merrill Corporation is an extremely shady business. They only care for making a profit off their clients, and not at all about their employees' morale, well-being or financial needs. During the interview, they will give vague descriptions of open jobs, promise you one job, and give you a lower level one instead. They do not want to pay their employees overtime or give raises. The managers do not listen at all to their employees and will interrupt them and shoot them down everytime, after claiming that anyone can come to them for anything. They are rude, and expect employees to enthusiasticly greet them whenever they enter the room. They will claim that this is simply "the corporate world". It is like they purposely TRY to keep their employees miserable. Terrible management, shady business tactics, and greed greed greed is what Merrill Corporation is all about. Do not let them take advantage of you, stay away.

A typical day starts with answering emails from co-workers and clients. Then, its onto following up with clients and completing any work left from the day before and completing daily reports. The afternoon entails processing the mail/payments and inputting orders into the database. Also, throughout day taking phone calls from our customers. I had great co-workers that were always willing to help out, especially during deadline times.  I was able to advance my learning in excel, outlook, Alliance and online databases through Merrill.  The most enjoyable part of my job was the feeling of accomplishment in getting the work done in a timely manner and meeting all deadlines.

I worked for Merrill Corporation for many years, starting out as a CSR and moving up to a Team Lead. In all my years at Merrill Corporation I do not have one bad thing to say about them, and I would go back to working for them in a heartbeat. The Management Team was wonderful, and always went above and beyond to help their staff to be able to enjoy a balance of life and work without sacrificing anything. Merrill is also great about promoting from within, rather than outsourcing their positions, if they have the right employee for the job that is applying. Unfortunately, I was let go in 2008 when the economy took a dive and they had to cut staff nationwide, or I would still be there today. All reviews that I had ever had there were fair and just, even the bad reviews were all fair and I learned from them.

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