Worst career experience I’ve ever had – STEER CLEAR!
Pros
Salary and remote work, although that was temporary and on-site work was to resume once Chicago had an open office. I left before that because the last thing I wanted was to have to deal with this sort of treatment and these people in person.
Cons
Horrible place to work. I was going through one of the toughest times in my life and was always transparent about that. I got more support and understanding from the higher ups than the team leads/managers. They constantly used anything I said in our 1:1 meetings against me, in an effort to make themselves look competent and like they are truly acting as leaders. The company seems filled with people who show up for an easy salary grab and a title. No one ever knows what’s going on and the procedures are constantly changing. Right before I quit, I was informed that there were talks of implementing 10 hour work days in the future because we “weren’t meeting our goals.” So…overworking a team that’s struggling to begin with is your solution? LOL. The final straw for me was my experience with one of the management/lead team members. Apparently they’re allowed to send follow-up emails with notes on our 1:1 meetings (CC’ing me) that include completely fabricated and edited responses to questions I’d answered in a completely different way or context, during our “performance meetings.” This person would seemingly rather lie and attempt to destroy the reputation of another employee that’s below them than to actually step up to the plate and hold themself accountable for their lack of guidance, empathy or leadership for that matter. When I read that final email with the notes they had spun to totally throw me under the bus, I knew I was 100% don’t and quit the very next day. I considered speaking my piece but figured it didn’t matter and I’d be better off just walking away. They weren’t going to do anything for me. That much was clear. Speaking of meetings – these people LOVE to waste everyone’s time with multiple meetings a week that never produce any actual change or introduce any procedures that will actually make any sense or are that are helpful in any way. I often made the joke (among my peers in private chats) that if we weren’t all stopping to join some meeting every 5 minutes, maybe I could focus better on my performance and the tasks at hand and I’d actually be able to deliver on some of the unrealistic expectations they are setting. No chance. Just more and more meetings! If you like being treated horribly in exchange for money and benefits, if your reputation doesn’t matter to you and you love working under people who don’t deserve their titles or roles – narcissists, liars, master manipulators – Instawork is the place for you! Before I accepted their offer, I read a few reviews on sites like these. I should have heeded their warnings. I really do think what people are saying is true…the “good” reviews are either fake or they’re probably paying off longtime employees who don’t care to tell the truth. I promised myself I’d try to stick it out at least 6 months, so that I’d at least have more exposure in the industry and a new salary negotiating point…it almost wasn’t even worth it. My mental and emotional health suffered a great deal more than what it had been and I never felt I was actually part of any team. I felt like I had a target on my back. They needed me to appear weak in order to drive me out. They never actually tried to help me. Stay away from these people if you value yourself in any way. They won’t (unless you can morph into the same soulless robots as them). Who you are and what you bring to the table doesn’t matter at Instawork. You’re just a computer that needs to generate large numbers or you’re worthless. It doesn’t even matter what you’re doing to produce those numbers. They don’t check. You’re safe if you can at least fake hitting your marks. While my focus was on producing quality work, that didn’t seem to matter. Only the numbers! Worst job I’ve ever had. And I used to walk dogs and pick up their crap for a living.
