GDS International Employee Job Reviews in the United States

"I got recruited to work in gds Nyc. They got me to illegally work in the us and faked all of my documents. Massive scam, huge drug culture. There are some hilarious characters working in this organization but the reality is... this is a scam. They do not have the people attending their summits that they claim to have attending. Everyone knows it but either sell or pack your bags. At the time I wasn’t as clued up as I am now. I enjoyed the mad times but after almost 10 years reflection I look back on this job as a shameful occupation that I do not include on my cv."

"This company is a scam! Vendors stay away, execs stay away! They con you into purchasing one of their packages worth 30k, 40k, 50k, 60k, 70k and feed you lies about C level execs from Fortune 500 companies who are in attendance. None of the execs from these companies are really coming, they conned us out of 45k and we have lawyers and the state investigating them! NO ethics, NO business!"

"I've worked at GDS International for the last 8 months, and genuinely have to say I'm loving the job I started with it in mind as a stop gap, having read some of the reviews online, and have been surprised by the positive atmosphere I have been met with. The company is trying really hard to turn around it's reputation, and has made several great strides towards this. 1. The sales team have regular training sessions on how to build value using the facts of the summit. Because the sales team are mainly commission based, and their team leaders also incentized by team members scoring, I think there was a historical culture of saying anything to get someone over the line. These days, senior management are clamping down on this hard. 2. The company has embraced Salesforce in it's entirety, and are using a 'three strike rule' if anyone doesn't use Salesforce to record calls, conversations and relationships. This has also helped with keeping the pitches honest and improving the way data is sourced and stored. 3. The Summits were completely reworked this year. Instead of selling off the attendee list, and allowing sponsors to choose whoever they want to meet with, the company surveys both delegates and solution providers. The delegates tell us about key projects coming up, and the team organizes the onsite meeting schedule with the best fit possible for these projects. The onsite satisfaction has gone through the roof. 4. The company has hired several new senior management bodies from top end companies such as Trip Advisor and RAC. These managers are helping to shape the company in a positive way."

"I worked with GDS International for over two months. Good place to work if you like sales and an open company culture."

"Good place to make money but not to cultivate a career. Poor management over the years transformed a good company to a place with sudden changes (to the worst). I have left a while a go, and I'm not sure how thing are at the moment but I keep hearing bad reviews, again is a shame because it was a company I did enjoy working for."

"I worked at GDS International for a year and a half and came to find out that they encouraged me to lie repeatedly to clients and respective clients and there was an entire website devoted to how the company was a scam."

"Great environment, and great people."

"This was by far the most embarrassing part of my career."

What do you like about working at GDS International?

"Vacation time around Christmas was great (2 weeks off for free)"

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Do not be fooled by the show you will receive. Again I'll say, stay away."

What don't you like about working at GDS International?

"You will be trained and forced to lie every day all day to every person you get on the phone. Do not let the incredible photographs of destinations all over the world that they will never send you. The people that work here are the most superficial people you will ever meet.You are cold calling people all day, stating that you are from a Next Generation company (Could be NG Oil & Gas/ NG Utilities etc....(THESE ARE NOT COMPANIES!) The reason they lie about that is because GDS has a horrible reputation, has been sued by everyone under the sun including former employees for sexual and racial reasons.GDS hosts what they call Summits for specific industries. Retail, Oil & Gas, Utilities etc...No mention of GDS International is brought up on the phone as they have a horrible reputation. So after the 100's of calls you are required to make in a day let's say you get someone on the phone.You have obtained their cell phone number by lying about who you are and why you are calling. You then go through a Script literally they make you read a Script to pitch on every call with someone else tapped in on your line to Coach you through the lying and endless objections you will get from the C Level executives that call you on the BS you are spewing at them. They will stand in front of you and tell you what to say. It is the most ridiculous sales job I have ever encountered. (ANYONE IN THE OTHER REVIEWS THAT SAID THIS IS A GOOD LEARNING ENVIRONMENT HAD NO EXPERIENCE AND IS CLEARLY NAIVE.)The whole purpose of this Pitch is to get the person on the other end of the phone to the List. The list that they are then going to see is a fantasy. It is a list of Senior Level executives that represent the biggest companies in the industry that the person you are pitching can sell their products or services to. (Remember the NG Oil&Gas/NG Utilities I was talking about IT IS A FAKE LIST. Can you guess why this list is password protected They will ask the team pitching on a specific event who they need to have on the list to show to clients. That consists of going to Google or Linkedin and taking peoples pictures, bios and titles and posting them on the attendees list that you will then pitch with.Once you have them on the list, you will then go through the rest of the 4-5 page pitch selling them on the opportunity to sit down in 14 predetermined 1 on 1 business meetings with the executives of their choice. Here's the problem....THE LIST IS FAKE!!! So you are selling a fake Product if you will to the potential clients at ridiculous prices! GDS is the most expensive Summit organizer in the world. It has nothing to do with the quality of the events and delegation. Simply because they don't know how to manage money and they pay the Senior Management insane amounts of Money. Also they have an office on Wall St in the Trump Building. There is no reason what so ever that this company needs to be in the Trump Building other than for looks and to con people into thinking they are a good place to work. They could sufficiently carry out their day to day operations in an abandoned warehouse in Harlem.Men: Suites and ties all day every day no matter what. If you are older than 12 and like rewards like being able to take your tie off if you get a pitch out, look no further.All in all folks, I would not recommend my worst enemy to this horrible joke and disgrace of a company. (Some of them even applied and I told them to run!!)HUMAN RESOURCES DOES NOT EXIST AT THIS COMPANY. THERE IN NO WHERE TO GO! None of the HR employees are actually trained on anything other than hiring and firing. Despite the 10+ HR Directors and VP's you will find on Linkedin. (Everyone in the company uses fake titles to sound bigger to the C-Level Execs)They have hired and fired several Sales Directors, VP Sales and the CEO all in the last 10 months. Also they have rehired people that have left.. Baffles my mind.I urge you, stay away."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Be Honest!!Stop training your staff to lie all day every day to close business. Also, empower your staff and keep them informed."

"Excellent opportunity, great review and training."

"The best job I ever had so far."

"A great place to make a lot of money, but not that great for leadership opportunity."

What do you like about working at GDS International?

"It is an environment that rewards performance. If you are willing to work hard, the benefits are equal to the work that you put in."

What don't you like about working at GDS International?

"I am a leader and visionary. This company has very little to offer to compliment these abilities."