software engineer

sales representative

sales intern

business analyst

intern

Sandhills Global

Overall, I'd say it was a decent place to start my career as a developer, and I learned a lot about what I value in an employer and in my work culture. But for my long term and with my own personal views/values, Sandhills isn't the kind of company I'd imagine myself happy working with for more than 3-4 years.

Your mileage will vary depending on which department/manager you fall under. I personally loved the people I worked with every day, and I felt like I had the confidence and trust of my managers in my projects (mostly .NET webAPIs, lots of c# and a decent amount of legacy VB.NET; some front-end razor and js). When I left they seemed to be in the process of moving to a more agile-like development process, but as it stands projects tended to be quite disorganized overall. We were also typically subject to EXTREME amounts of red tape and strong push-back when cooperation with other departments was needed.

They have had a high turnover rate with full-time developers in the past few years; this has improved recently but they still rely heavily on interns for development. Between the turnover and the constant rotation of interns, many projects were a hot mess. Often times somebody new starts working on a project, they become the sole knowledge source for that project, the project takes a long time to complete due to aforementioned red tap or push-back, the person leaves the company, and then the process starts over again. 

The company as a whole has quite a few negatives working against them; whether it be the vehement resistance from upper management to any wfh or hybrid schedule, or the infamously overly strict dress code that they refuse to loosen (business professional, so suit and tie every day for men and slacks or a skirt for women, even if you're a humble developer sitting at a computer). The workplace is also very heavily male dominated, especially in the tech departments; the ratio is easily 10:1 if not worse.  

The vacation policy is sub par overall; salaried employees get 10 use-them-or-lose-them days/year for your first 3 years, then 15 days/year after (no carry-over or payout for unused time). You do get the full 10 days as soon as you start though. And they did implement a 36 hour work week over the last couple years, which was admittedly really nice to have; however, I'd personally rather have a hybrid/wfh schedule or more useable vacation. The paid holidays are laughable at best compared to almost any other company; you get 7 paid holidays/year, but only if that holiday lands on a weekday. So some years you'll have as few as 4 paid holidays.

Pay is mid-tier for developers in Lincoln/Omaha if you stay with the company long enough or come in with enough experience. However, this will also depend on which manager you fall under and whether or not they are prone to give raises. I made ~$85k after 2 years as a developer, and there are quite a few devs that had been with the company for 5+ years and made significantly more. Interns also make a decent amount: over $25/hr in many cases.

They have a 401k plan you can invest in after your first year, but they don't provide a match of any kind. The healthcare plan was pretty standard (UMR/United Healthcare), and they had just added an HSA option when I left (again, no match).

And finally, if you're into Husker sporting events at all, they do offer free tickets to employees pretty often. Especially for football games you could reliably get 2-4 tickets to each home game.

When I accepted the job at Sandhills I was extremely excited to start. It did not take long for me to realize that this was not a great company to work for. They promote their open floor plan as a positive thing, so that you can get to know your coworkers better, but really it is so managers can look over your shoulder at anytime to see what you are doing. They have a task order system, in which EVERYTHING gets sent to your manager for review before you can complete any task. Even asking for office supplies has to be approved by a manager before you can receive it. 

Honestly the environment is just miserable. When you work for a company 5 days a week, 40 hours a week, you want to feel comfortable. This is NOT the case at Sandhills. I can in with a few years of experience and thought I was pretty good at my job, but after working for Sandhills for a year, I had never felt more incompetent in my ability to do my job. It was until I left sandhills and started working for my current company that I finally felt like I had a voice, and knew what I was doing. 

The dress code sucks, but it is honestly the least of your worries there. Managers will NEVER come up and talk to you straight to your face, instead they just send you an extremely passive email. 

Honestly, I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy. No one should ever have to go through what this company puts you through. They decide within the first week if they are going to like you or not, and if they don't, LOOK out, because you are in for a rough experience. You will never have to worry about getting fired, they won't fire you, because they are extremely scared of getting sued, but they will make you wish you never accepted the job and make your work day so awful that you feel you have no choice but to leave the company (honestly the day you put in your notice will be the best day of your life). 

I am not one to make terrible reviews on a company, but this company needs to be found out. They are AWFUL awful awful. Work there for just one week and you will find out what me, and many others are saying about this company. If you thought Bullying was done in High school, just wait until you work here. Management bullying is 10x worse. 

The best thing I can say for Sandhills is their line of products. They offer a wide variety and are effective in the industry, making it a good product to sell. You generally leave right at 5:00 as well, outside of travel, making work life balance a positive at Sandhills.

The negatives mostly stem from upper management, specifically the CEO. Unprofessional and often threatening emails are regularly sent company wide calling out individual performances. Negative reinforcement is common and positive reinforcement is rare and usually inorganic. This is also usually the only method of letting you know if you're doing well or not at the company, as proper reviews and expectations are not given at Sandhills.

Middle Management are generally easy to work with, though not without fault as well. There is a lack of communication between middle management and their departments as well as a lack of set expectations. As mentioned above, there are no monthly or quarterly reviews and yearly reviews usually involve only a cursory glance of the past year and vague plans for the next FY with no fiscal goals set.

Compensation is varied depending on which department and territory you work. Average compensation is acceptable for entry level sales. However there is no 401K match and vacation is minimal. The company does (usually) give out a nice Christmas bonus to all employees, but no bonuses based on sales.

In summation, I would say it weren't for the CEO then the company would be a pleasant place to work. If you're just starting out in sales this can be a positive step in that direction. However, do not expect training in sales or any followup from management on how to improve. You'll have to do outside research to hone your craft while selling a well designed product.

Can honestly say Sandhills Publishing offers the best internship possible for a college student. The internship has a great hourly wage with uncapped commission potential, and gives intern the experience needed to do anything they want upon graduation. Interns set their own schedule, are given a tablet and iPhone, and have the opportunity to make $40-$50 an hour consistently. Interns just moved into a brand new state-of-the-art building, and upon graduation always have the ability to open the conversation into full-time opportunities. Intern management can feel very micro-managed (I've received the same email 5 times within an hour from different levels of management), and if they want their hand in on what you are doing, they definitely will. Strict white shirt & tie dress code, no exceptions. Very hard focus on the bottom line. Opportunity for travel even as a student. Culture is the part to be most improved on...often the feel is full-time reps and even interns dislike their jobs and are only their for money. Great opportunity to make as much money as you want, without having to call and sell to people in your private life (like Northwestern Mutual). Overall, extremely great internship and can't be thankful enough for finding it.

I worked at Sandhills Global as a college intern. I was making $15/hr and 20% commission on all sales, which was pretty good money while still being in college. I believe once you are hired the base salary is $40k/year, but that might have changed in the last few years. While I worked there I was required to wear skirts/dresses/tights/ballet flats, which might have been updated since then, but it was awful that it was enforced for so long. I did not feel supported by my managers, when we did monthly reviews they offered no help. They handled COVID-19 poorly in my eyes, we were sent home for a few weeks and then were pressured to return to the office when we were fully capable of doing our jobs at home. Most of the interns in my department were laid off with no notice, including myself. They were extremely intense with micro-managing. One of the biggest perks was they gave out free husker tickets for home games during football season. 

The benefits have improved since I was there. For example, first year used to be no paid vacation, but I believe you get at least one week paid when you start.

If it's the first place you've ever worked, then you may not be missing anything, but for women there's a very formal dress code and for men it's suit and tie daily--even if you never see a customer.

Features a wide variety of jobs and some good opportunity to make a very comfortable wage, but that also may require some patience.

You need to be okay with being given direction while not being able to provide as much feedback as you'd like.

Left on good terms, but cannot imagine going back to work there again.

I never felt like I was given an opportunity to grow. I was never given full details or specifications from my superior and felt like I was getting setup to fail. There are quite a few people who have drank the Kool-Aid and you can not tell them anything without expecting a manager to hear about it. Very cult like in their employment. Being an intern, I did not feel like I gained a whole lot of great experience while working there besides seeing the horrors of what a toxic work-culture can be.

For the most part, days give the appearance of autonomy, but they're not that great. Often put on "projects" to generate "leads" that are never contacted by the sales team. No incentives to perform in the office. Sales team treated like Gods, marketing team treated like hobos. Management only cares about results, not the people creating the results. Slim to none when it comes to career advancement opportunities. ONLY positive about the job is the annual bonus based on number of days you travel, and that you occasionally get to travel somewhere interesting.

I sincerely appreciate the professionalism of the company and the work mentality. At Sandhills I have opportunities to prove myself through the work that I do on a daily basis and know that I can continue to grow as a professional. 

The fast paced environment gives you the opportunity to learn in an exciting environment that evolves within the industries you work in. 

I definitely recommend to those who are looking to progress and find a competitive, well paid, professional environment.

Family run large business with family members in key spots. There is little room for career growth. Family members will dictate how their area is run. Good ideas and credit is stolen from the employee. Bad ideas or projects that go south are thrown in the employee's face as there is no management accountability.  The company treats women poorly. As a male, I found this to be gross.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 6 salaries reported	$117,233 per year
Sales representative 6 salaries reported	$69,150 per year
Sales intern 3 salaries reported	$18.67 per hour
Business analyst 1 salary reported	$1,050 per week
Intern 4 salaries reported	$18.25 per hour

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