If compensation is important to you, definitely negotiate early and demand accurate pay for your worth. In my experience, a lot of my day-to-day was doing a wide variety of random tasks, some of which I felt were frankly, degrading. This was good in some ways. I credit this for giving me an opportunity to learn a lot of new skills on the fly and try new things. But this comes with its cons too. By six months into the job, my title did not correlate with the primary work I was doing at all. I did some research and learned I was being severely underpaid for the types work I was contributing.
A year and a half into my time here, I asked to have my job title changed to accurately reflect my work (I did not ask for an increase in compensation at this time.) I was denied. I countered, asking to have clear expectations set for my role. I was also denied, without an explanation or opportunity to further negotiate. Promotions and paths to growth within the company were never a conversation with leadership.
Despite being asked to spearhead major projects (my efforts even won the brand industry awards and national award nominations), I was treated like an intern whenever it was convenient. Experiences like this made me feel undervalued, and that I was being taken advantage of as a fresh out of college employee.
Also, this company was not flexible. No flexible hours, no option for work from home days, minimal holidays and PTO, etc. A very traditional 9-5 office culture. It made the company feel old-school in comparison to other companies in the area. Diversity was lackluster. For example, at the time, I could literally count the other POC in the company on my hands, including myself. Experiencing microaggressions at work and not seeing many minorities in leadership positions felt isolating. At the time, diversity didn't seem like it was on this company's radar at all.
