Hire and fire culture, far from what you would expect from an ‘innovative start-up’
Pros
- Relatively easy interview process - Travel - Decent hours (depending on the department). However note that there is a clock-watching culture – particularly within marketing.
Cons
Micromanagement – If you’re expecting to get responsibility and autonomy, I’m afraid that this company is not for you. Prepare for every decision of yours to be questioned. This is particularly true in the marketing department, don’t be fooled by the title of the CMO, the CEO is the one who makes all the strategic marketing decisions, it’s the CMO’s job to run the day to day operations of things. This means constant clock-watching and reviewing content from everything including whitepapers to sales presentations all the way to event invites. The reviewing is not the main issue, it’s the fact that your work will be completely changed so that it’s not longer your own. Lack of trust – This stems from the first point, but management are very set in their ways. They have a particular way of doing things and if they are challenged they are likely to get defensive and see this as you being incompetent of doing your job. Unlike other organizations that I have worked for, being able to challenge current ways of working is a good thing particularly for a young, growing organization and this should be embraced. If you are looking to bring your own experiences and add real value to the company, you might struggle to do this here. Aggressive culture – The motto of the firm that you’ll frequently hear is ‘don’t be afraid to be unreasonable’. The organisation is young and therefore extremely numbers focused, as a result management groom and mould their young grads to adopt forceful and ruthless behaviours. It’s detrimental to the work environment as it creates a hostile atmosphere where team members or mentors frequently throw each other under the bus rather than giving you the benefit of the doubt like in normal working environments. Lack of structure/ formal performance process – The absence of structure or formal process to assess your performance is sold to you by the company as a positive, indicating that you can be promoted quickly if you are good. However be aware that the reason for this is to protect the company’s own interests and not to benefit you. During my time at the company I have witnessed a number of unfair dismissals (including that of a colleague who announced her pregnancy and was fired a few days later). The odd thing about the dismissals was that it always happened so suddenly; the individual was never given a chance to improve, as there were no formal feedback sessions. Rather than having a member from HR present, this is done by the manager and someone from Legal – you are then escorted out of the building. No notice. Nothing. To all the grads out there, please understand that this is completely wrong. As an employee you should be given the basic right to understand how you are performing at a company – whether it’s good or bad and always given an opportunity to improve. To conclude, think very carefully before accepting a job offer here and know exactly what you are getting yourself into. Talk to others who you may know that work at the company to get their opinion. It might be difficult to turn down especially if it’s one of your first and only job offers however later on down the line you will thank yourself – I wish I had taken on this advice.
