I spent 1 year and 6 months at Poka, and honestly, it felt like a complete waste of time.
During my first year, I kept my head down and absolutely smashed my targets, I didn’t miss a single quarter in FY24. When the other SDR covering Europe left, I had to pick up the slack and support four different AEs, keeping all their pipelines full of opportunities. I worked myself into the ground to keep everything moving.
When it came time for my review, I expected at least some recognition maybe a raise, a promotion, something. Instead, all I got was a half-hearted “thank you.” No raise. No promotion. Just a pat on the back.
After Christmas, things went from bad to worse. The pressure to hit targets became ridiculous. I was pushed so hard that I ended up having to take time off for stress. Poka offers zero support for European employees, so I had to use my own holiday to take that time off. I hoped the company might show some understanding considering how much I’d done for them, but I was completely wrong.
When I came back, I struggled to get back into things. My family was already struggling financially because the pay just wasn’t enough, and they made earning commission ridiculously difficult. Even when I did earn it, it would often arrive two or three months late. Waiting that long for pay you’ve already earned is beyond frustrating it’s demoralizing.
In August, they basically threatened to get rid of me unless I “put more effort in.” Around that same time, they gave me a 1% pay rise honestly, it felt like a slap in the face. I’d hit target in July, smashed August, and yet they still didn’t pay my commission for that month. My family struggled badly until the next payday, and I had to rely on my credit card just to get by. I told them about this, hoping they’d at least show some empathy or offer support they didn’t care at all.
Then, after I took a few days off at the end of September because of a death in the family, I came back expecting a bit of compassion. Instead, the only thing waiting for me was a meeting invite to tell me they were letting me go. Not one manager checked in to ask if I was okay.
Moral of the story: Poka does not look after its people. They have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to expanding into Europe, they ignore genuine feedback (like data enrichment issues), and if you ever raise concerns, you’re immediately scapegoated.
I genuinely regret my time at this company. It’s by far the worst career move I’ve ever made. Avoid Poka at all costs
