Friendly environment, intense workload, no development
Pros
Many smart and friendly people who are happy to give each other advice. The company is very open about its sales numbers and strategy for growth. It's interesting to experience a company in transition from a small start-up to a larger, professionalised company. Many processes were streamlined and made more structured, which was interesting to be a part of. My role (pitching and onboarding new hosts) was largely enjoyable, and probably the most fun host/guest-facing role at the company. There are high targets and you are working very intensely quarter to quarter; Sometimes it is very stressful, although it is exciting if you're motivated by smashing sales targets etc. Relaxed work style as you can go and sit anywhere, and chat with others in the office. The CEO is very present and a genuinely nice guy. There is a weekly Friday meeting which he opens and where all departments update the company on the past week with drinks. Free breakfast, snacks, fruit, coffee, toastie Thursdays, drinks on Fridays. Cool office in the amazing Shoreditch location.
Cons
The role it was a little repetitive and there was no opportunity for professional development or internal career growth. After a few months there I realised although it was enjoyable I was using these vital early years of my career without learning anything new. The company exists to grow as quickly as possible, hiring smart and ambitious people to get there, but with no focus on keeping these employees engaged or challenged, or indicating how they can develop within the company. To illustrate this point, instead of promoting people, they only brought in star hires with impressive CVs. This is an understandable strategy to make the company into one that competes with the biggest in the industry, but it's a bit insulting when these people clearly have huge salaries, and lower-level employees aren't even rewarded for their hard work with a raise, let alone a promotion. These senior management figures are good businesspeople but not necessarily good people managers, so there is a bit of a detachment between them and everyone else. The fact that the company does not have a presence of human resources is also unforgivable, since many colleagues had problems, particularly in Matchmaking and Customer Service teams, where the workload is enormous and unstructured. As such, staff turnover in these two departments is incredibly high. Some people in Marketplace (where I was) had issues with their managers, so a human resources department would make people much more comfortable. The Tech and Brand Marketing teams seemed quite happy and stable, and the Marketplace team was generally happy but frustrated by the lack of internal opportunities. The hours are from 9 to 6, but staff are encouraged to stay late and do things on the weekends too, despite the fact that the pay is not very good.
