This place preaches and advertises their "culture"/"work-life-balance" online, but the reality is this: If you want true work-life balance, DO NOT WORK HERE. I promise you that all these perks they advertise -unlimited pto, snacks, remote option, etc. are not worth it. Also, unlimited pto does not exist. You are expected to get your work done ahead of time in order to take your vacation. So really, you’ll work 80 hours one week in order to get a whole week off. It’s all a facade. All a lie. Let’s talk about working remote - with this option, the CEO expects you to work even when you’re sick. Get this- we had a meeting about how one of our employees was going to have surgery and was STILL trying to work. Instead of the CEO acknowledging the fact that this employee needed to rest, he went on and mentioned, "this is why we have remote work, so that you don't have to come to the office when situations like this occur." How is that work-life-balance? If you're employee is going through surgery, you should expect them to rest. Not work, even if it's remote.
Here’s how they work -They hire a bunch of post college grads (Now as interns, but you’re still doing the same work as a FT employee) because they know they can take advantage of you. They’ll burn you out in the process. They LOVE piling more work for you and giving you HOMEWORK! They use like 15 CMS tools. They are not consistent. They'll tell you to do one thing, you do it, and then you get in trouble for following their lead. They have a clear structure problem but they won’t admit it, instead, they’ll blame their employees.
Lastly, let’s talk about directors. We have these one on one meetings that are EXTREMELY TOXIC. You’ll walk out those meetings feeling stupid. Let me quote “this is dumb, this is stupid, why did you do this.” There are ways you can provide criticism without being disrespectful. They hire directors that are not fit for the role, most of them have never even managed a team.
At the end of the day, this place wants you to believe that they are trying to help you grow in your career, but the reality is that the CEO is trying to grow his empire and abuses/manipulates his employees to believe that this is for their own growth. Hey CEO, writing blog pieces to increase your site's organic traffic isn't really a growth method for my career. I'm not a writer. You should hire writers instead of having your employees do extra work that they didn't sign up for.
Don’t apply here. There are so many other companies that will appreciate you and won’t kill you in process so they can get to the top.