In short:
- non existent onboarding.
- non constructive criticism.
- pressure to perform in a very short amount of time.
- horrible middle management
- total startup chaos environment
Here comes the reason for this review.
I’m not super keen on leaving these, I usually have good experiences with my employers and was never let go during the onboarding process, but this time I felt I had to leave a review.
First of all, there was total miscommunication during the hiring process. I clearly stated what my skills are during multiple interviews. My strengths and weaknesses were known before even coming to the company. But despite that, during the onboarding period I was tasked with responsibilities, that I had no experience in and was told to learn it really fast and deliver fast. I did state that I was willing to learn new skills, but not at that pace with immediate deliverables, open non constructive criticism and little to no help.
Speaking of onboarding - there was none. Apart from reading a couple of documents, there was no plan or clear expectations stated. So, when I was let go, they could not clearly state why and what was that I could not deliver.
Middle management is horrible. I could go into story time, but what can I say… public non constructive criticism, horrible pressure (a task is planned to be finished in three days, but questions “is it done yet?” Is asked every morning - basically badgering), micro management, no help, only condescending questions “is this all that you did? Why didn’t you do it like that?”, and I’m paraphrasing here, and all of this is in public meetings, basically public shaming. These problems were addressed in a professional manner, but no steps taken to mitigate this situation.
Also, no legitimate task management or roadmapping. I had to write tasks for myself, do them after approval, but then get criticised for not doing it right. (No details or requirements were given in the first place)
Even the top management is openly saying that they are hustlers and we have to work and learn super fast, no matter the cost (maybe weekends or evenings)
Note: I cannot speak for the whole company, I only experienced this in one team, with a small amount of people, but I believe these problems are prevalent.
Another note: I had received multiple offers with better salaries, but I specifically chose this company, because after the hiring process, I was under the false impression, that we were aligned and I had opportunities to learn new things. I also thought, I could bring many new things to this company, but sadly, none of this was achieved. I was left with burnout and imposter syndrome.
At the end of the day, I am not a junior specialist and I pretty confident of my skills, my 10 years of experience can attest to that. I can admit that I don’t know everything and I’m always learning, but the environment for it was not provided.
