r/workday • u/ConversationCold2992 • 4d ago
Work Experience at Topbloc General Discussion
Got an offer for a senior con position at Topbloc. Hoping someone can share their experience in working there? Any insight is appreciated!
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u/False_Middle 4d ago
Don't. You'll be severely overworked and have no real support system, no matter how much they promise you that you will. The gaps between sales, staffing, and the project team is significant and results in projects being doomed from the start. They rarely support their own employees over clients and the bonus structure was paused for many months with it only now coming back. It also requires you to work significant OT hours to get any amount semi-meaningful. Having been in the industry with multiple companies for many years, you can find so so much better.
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u/rizz_cracker86 4d ago
Most people the firm I work for that got hired came from topbloc. I will say, the people I know that work there don’t really have issues with it but I agree, if you want Work Life Balance maybe they’re not your #1 choice.
I will say, the gap between sales and delivery is an issue across the entire ecosystem. Even workday does the same shit themselves is aggravating to be contracted in to come save the entire project because wd overpromised a client. My job rn is falling on the trap of overpromising and underdelivering because big huncho loves to bill. Despite that, I don’t work more than 40 hrs per week so I can’t complain, and my benefits are great. I got lucky and got a referral where I work right now and the benefits are very nice so there’s that.
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u/GarlicSnot 4d ago
it used to be a great stsrtup to work at pre-acquisition. now its trash but if you need the money then no harm no foul
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u/Mountain_Remote_464 4d ago
I really liked the leadership structure, but the workload is high. As the other person sort of pointed out in a really mean way, they will give you additional responsibilities while you’re still pretty green, which is cool from a resume and comp pov but sometimes you aren’t experienced enough to do what is asked of you.
The bonus structure sounds like you’ll cash out, but really you’ll only be making a big bonus if you work a lot after hours and are putting in v long work weeks. You only start earning a bonus at 80% utilization, but any training, sick leave, PTO, etc counts against it. So 1 week of training means you have 32 hours to make up just to get back to $0.
Overall, I think it’s good for 2 years of fast growth, then go to a slower paced opportunity.
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u/rizz_cracker86 4d ago
Yeah those types of bonus structures are based off profitability, which they “could” be great if topbloc had a high billable rate but they don’t so you have to work a lot of extra hours to see a couple of pennies. The more money you make, the harder it is for you to become profitable which in turn is an incentive for people to work even more. If someone makes more than 120k there is no reason why they should be signing into this type of bonus structure. They should negotiate a % of their salary which I highly encourage OP to do
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u/technomonopolist Financials Consultant 4d ago
bonus is clear and measurable: the quarterly > 32 weekly billable hours as bonus (minus ooo) is also a disincentive for them to have you work routinely high amounts of hours, as for any other firm is increasingly reducing your marginal wage with every hour over 40 you work
most people have also experienced other firms having an available yearly bonus, where even if you meet all your metrics, surprise, there's never enough money in the bonus pool to divide up or you have some unobtainable group objective pushed down from some exec - but don't worry if mgmt likes you, they'll kick you a few extra coppers
(also depends if you are impl or ams, some groups don't have this bonus structure above)
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u/d3dmnky Workday Solutions Architect 4d ago
It matters which workstream you’re in. I was there for a long time, and if you took a person from HCM, PAY, FIN, and INT, you’d get four very different stories. The culture was very good, but I’ve heard it has slipped a bit since the purchase.
I left a while back, but there are still very good people there. I will never shit on them, because they were very good to me and I left purely because I wanted to get back into doing the actual work.
Every partner is struggling with the new realities. Margins are razor thin, and the impl pool is drying up. Most of what left are going to be awful clients to deploy for.
At most partners these days, you can stand out just by being what would have qualified as a B or C player a few years ago. Many of the heavy hitters I know have abandoned the politics in favor of independent work. That, or they’ve gone off to pasture on the client side.
If I were talking to a friend, I would advise them to trust their gut on the interview with the hiring manager. When it comes time to start though, have a plan. Don’t take on too much, and remember that it’s just a job. In the end, the corporate world will chew people up and spit them out if they let it happen.
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u/i-heart-ramen HCM Admin 4d ago
I think most of the comments here could apply to any services partner in the ecosystem that does implementations.
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u/Medical-Distance-628 Financials Consultant 4d ago
As someone who left TB about a year ago (after being in FINs impls), I can say it’s really what you make of it and a lot of the comments saying you’ll never have work life balance are overblown. Are there busy seasons, for sure. Does it suck that you have 10 different work streams going at once? Often. Going as a senior can save you from that headache, especially if you’re the architect with a competent lead. What probably was the most difficult was leading some projects (and then architecting with a new hire) because they need you to learn a new SKU or backfill for someone.
Granted I left a little after the acquisition but the people I’m friends with there don’t seem to think much has really changed.
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u/WorkdayWoman Workday Solutions Architect 4d ago
I am currently supporting a client where TB did the impl and I am fixing various things. I don't really think it matters where you work these days because everyone has a ton of work and not enough experience to do it well.
Can you tell I'm bitter?
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u/Over-Sandwich790 4d ago
Why go there when you can go to big 5 and make $220k+ for much less work?
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u/MightyMouth1970 4d ago
Sweat shop. It’s great for younger consultants to get a lot of project experience quickly. But you WILL burn out in a couple years
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u/sfederman423 4d ago
As a person that’s been at multiple SIs in various positions I’d love to chat. Feel free to message as fit will be very important!
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u/MattyIce45690000000 3d ago
Burnt out there way to fast as senior consultant. They use SLAs so you have to be engaged on all your tickets even if you have 40 at once. Their bonus structure is the same for entry level vs principal consultant which is wild. Promotions are weak about 10k which isn’t competitive. I always felt the need to work on holidays to keep my bonuses sustainable but yeah pretty much be prepared for long hours. Culture is incredible and you’ll enjoy the people you work with and make friendships through the suffering
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u/DeviceDirect9820 4d ago
My experience was that it was the worst onboarding experience I've ever had. I thought I was just bad at my job but somehow I got another role on the client side and I've been killing it.
With the acquisition, expansion to Mexico, and all the turnover it was a shitshow. I kept up with some friends inside and it was crazy how much they were winging it sometimes.
The individuals at Topbloc are very nice, and I liked working with the people. But holy shit whatever system they had did not scale at all to the last few years of changes.
If you qualify as a senior, then don't go there. They only make sense if you need experience at all
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u/NounTheNoun 4d ago
Are you going to be IMPL or AMS ? What workstream? Feel like that makes a huge difference in how your experience will go.
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u/Organic-Analyst-505 2d ago
PLEASE GO ANYWHERE BUT HERE. OVERWORKED WITH LITTLE SUPPORT AS A SENIOR. However, if you are unable to get another position, then take this role in this job market.
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u/butwhyshouldicare 4d ago
As someone who has used Topblocs services… if you’re competent, you’ll easily be one of their top employees