Pros
This is a family-owned business that will recognize hard work as long as your reputation is not thrown in the gutter you will be rewarded for how much you put into the job.
Cons
There are too many issues to count. HR is practically useless, often siding with management's horrific practices to please higher-ups. As an assistant, you'll be treated as a 24/7-hour employee, with HR supporting your manager's demands at all hours, even for tasks that can wait until business hours. If you don't respond immediately, you'll be reprimanded and accused of "sending a message" that you're unavailable outside of work hours. Why should you be? Their solution is that you talk with your manager (I already had, and it put me in a worse position) or have a "group meeting" with them and HR, like how awkward and uncomfortable? They want you to do their job for them. Sad. You're expected to have your laptop open at all times, ready to assist your manager if they fail to complete their work during business hours due to poor time management. You'll be roped into working many weekends and after-hours events, making it feel like a never-ending nightmare. Your manager will manipulate team dynamics, involving you in enforcing dress code violations and using you as a pawn to avoid their own HR write-ups. Your boss will even steal from you and the company. For instance, when I brought in a donation from my local yoga studio, my manager kept the donation in her office and gave me back the donation is if it wasn't good enough to offer up and only gave me back half of what was in the donation bag, lied about it, and took the accompanying water bottle. They will spend large amounts of company money on extravagant gifts for upper-level staff, even after layoffs, showing a complete disconnect from reality. Despite your hard work, your manager will take credit for it while tarnishing your reputation with higher-ups. Be prepared for surprise negative reviews about trivial things like your facial expressions at work and events. Suddenly, you'll be told you don't work well with upper management, even after years of doing so, to build a case for firing you without cause. Fortunately, I saw the betrayal coming, started interviewing elsewhere, and found a wonderful new job with supportive managers who genuinely want you to succeed. When my manager tried to replace me, no one wanted the role due to fear of working with them and their twisted behavior. Additionally, my manager planned to demote me back to my original position, with coworkers trying to convince me to stay while knowing the demotion was imminent.
