Pros
Despite how negative the experience was overall, it was an experience nonetheless. Life lessons were learned - listen to your instincts, don't leave a good employer for money as it is never worth it.
Cons
Where to begin. Let's break it down in phases: Interview process: This was long, drawn-out, and did not adhere to promised deadlines. By interview #2 my prospective boss complained about staff. I should have ran for the hills, but the money promised was too good to pass up (sad, but true). Orientation: There was none. Not even an email. There was an email my boss sent out introducing me to the organization which was riddled with spelling errors. Colleagues overall: It was like a remake of your worst day of high school. People had formed ‘cliques’ and you could smell gossip in the air at any given moment. This behavior evident across all levels. My boss was the worst at this; this person would belittle staff, fellow leaders and during my time there had done an outstanding performance playing mind games; well played (I say in shame). There were a few descent, kind, friendly, hard-working souls among the arrogant and self-entitled. I can only hope that STI management realizes how valuable these few honest, hardworking people truly are. Overall experience: After stepping away from STI, I couldn’t believe that I didn’t see all of the toxicity. My boss lacked ability to prioritize work, never took accountability for own actions and in fact deflected blame onto own staff, and to this day not even sure how my boss contributed in any meaningful capacity. CEO: The CEO, I must say, is a lovely person; very bright and approachable however I don’t think he had any idea how many people were speaking ill of him; just disrespectful. STI has incredible potential but most leaders (minus the CEO, he is great) need to go. Time for a factory reset otherwise the ill culture will never heal, good people will keep leaving, and overall reputation of the company will eventually sour to the point of no return.