Pros
- I made some great friends, fostered a few strong alliances, and gained a ton of knowledge and experience very quickly (at the cost of getting burnt out numerous times) - The small-team dynamics with certain teams was probably the best experience I've ever had working on a team. Other teams will get rid of you if you do not fit in, or if you posses a personality that slightly deviates from the upbeat yes-man.
Cons
- Employee turnover is extremely high, and this is by design from upper management. This allows them to underpay and overwork employees, while pushing their agenda that high turnover and burnouts are good (Burning out employees and replacing them every year is believed to be "good" as it keeps a fresh set of eyes/opinions coming into the helpdesk work. In actuality, it just cultivates a constant rotation of inexperienced and stressed out employees that lack appropriate on the job training.) - The "Service Desk" portion of the company feels like its an entity entirely of its own. Changes are decree'd from upper management and the information is rarely passed down in a timely manner (if at all). We're just cannon fodder (After many years of working there I had done some photography for the company, and some actually thought I was just a contracted photographer. The Service Desk is lowest on the totem pole. - Opportunities for advancement and bettering oneself are few and far between (I have a feeling this can also be attributed to their glorified turnover rate). When they do occur, it is generally up to a round of favoritism to decide the employee to promote. - I was written up twice in one sitting in a very hostile manner. The next day I was called back into HR to reiterate the importance of these write-ups. My manager then went on vacation for two weeks, and immediately upon returning proceeded to dismiss my employment from the company. I was given no opportunity to improve upon what I was advised to improve upon. In hindsight, I regret signing those "write-ups" as I do not entirely agree with them; but at this time I was not given a chance to defend myself without getting into more "trouble". (Some valid points in my write-ups, and some very invalid points in my write-ups that completely caught me off guard. Had no idea it was an issue.) - Now I do not know what to tell future employers about my "departure" from Virteva. When I posed this question as I was getting fired, I was laughed at by my manager. - Upon being "dismissed" I was gleefully advised that my benefits would be good through the end of the month. This was on 03/27. Thanks for that as well. - During my time at Virteva, I was twice recruited to provide thousands of dollars of professional photography work, for which I ultimately just billed 3 hours of OT for. I can only really blame myself for this, and I've learned a valuable lesson regarding never doing anything out of goodwill ever again.