Buckle up. Imagine you’ve been out of work for almost a year and suddenly have three job offers and pick the lowest-paying one because you wanted to work for a company that would make a positive difference in people’s lives but instead actively facilitated horrible trauma. Elite DNA’s dna is first business, second mental health: they’re actively commoditizing behavioral (mental) health. Coming from a small town, they remind me of being a big fish in a small pond. Keep this all in mind if you want to work with a company that wants to make a difference.
The expectations are asinine. They’re rapidly expanding their corporate administration while trying to cut costs. For example, “Elite” was trying to replace an agency with one employee. They hire people with a “worker bee” job title but give them the performance expectations of a senior manager or director while already underpaying them five-figures. Priorities are ambiguous and responsibilities are nebulous. Over-delegation without explanation was the norm. It was obvious management had no clue how many manhours were required for “elite” work.
They purport to be “elite” but half the staff looks like they drove to their interview directly from their college graduation. Additionally, I’d look around and think that it was a job’s program for the C-Suite.
There were many days that coworkers walked around like zombies with a thousand–yard-stare. It’s ironic because “Elite’s” website has a bevy of blogs about stress, burnout, and being overwhelmed – the CEO even writes articles on the subject. I always thought that was the projection from the employees working there. Indeed, management openly talks about their mental health issues and makes jokes about advertising to private colleges for students who “need Adderall”.
Everyone starts on a 90-day introductory probationary period – and they use it! They may even rush you to sign the Letter of Intent! If you’re lucky, they’ll explain to you early on what that period actually is! Hopefully, your expectations are reasonable and not something multiple paygrades higher. But godspeed, I’ve been in student groups with better organization. They don’t even understand their data and how to track marketing efforts, let alone teach someone to understand it.
For those who accept a job offer, good luck to you.
