Heartless to the end.
Pros
Unlimited PTO -- This was nice! While it was difficult to justify taking time off vs. leaving clients unattended to, I enjoyed the flexibility of being able to take time off of work whenever I wanted. Remote work, office optional -- This is also very nice and forward-thinking. For the first time in my life, I was able to save on gas money and time commuting. The stress of those two options combined, Company attempts to listen to feedback -- We can submit anonymous feedback throughout the year, ask for product improvements that help our teams or clients, and have some questions answered during our company All-Hands. Minimal DEI efforts, but there was an effort -- If I recall correctly, I was apart of a total of 4 meetings for DEI. For most of those meetings, I was usually 1 of 3 members who was either BIPOC or LGBTQ+. I felt that I needed to speak on behalf of the entire culture that I identified with, which was uncomfortable. HR did periodically shared articles and videos that helped to spread awareness to DEI. Not sure what the impact was, but I did really appreciate the effort and I do think there is opportunity to develop it further.
Cons
Low compensation -- I knew I was being underpaid when I accepted the role, but I really needed to find a way to grow in my career and it was my only option at the time. Good. medical benefits, poor dental benefits -- My company-sponsored PPO medical plan was good a low copay (I believe $25/visit, $50/emergency), but my dental benefits barely covered anything (I once paid over $600 out-of-pocket for a deep cleaning). Working conditions were awful -- Anywhere from 8-10 hours of meetings weekly (team + client meetings). For 3 months, I was working overtime as the team forced my hand to take on responsibilities of a CSM for an Enterprise client (a position which makes ~20k more than I did). For the next 3 months after, I was still working overtime to help transition 2 new CSMs to their clients and trying to get my own role's work done. During these 6 months, I was supposed to have a manager who supported me, however, my manager did not schedule regular 1-on-1s with me and I was often left without communication or follow-up for tasks I needed assistance with. As a result of it all, I was burnt out by holiday season and my primary role's responsibilities became a challenge to keep up with. Management team is laughable, even toxic at times -- In my experience, tough conversations and challenging topics are often brushed over and left unaddressed in favor of being "optimistic" about the work that we do. As an employee that was drowning in the work load, I needed to be heard and helped. When expressing my burdens, I was often told to "stick it out" instead of being offered clear improvement plans. I had even been told explicitly by my manager that my emotions were not her concern, but that my operational efficiency was the priority. This was only one of the several times that I was either demeaned or patronized by my manager. Through it all, it was clear to me that I was a Worker first, a Human second. Development opportunities nonexistent -- When asked how I wanted to grow in my career, I was transparent with my manager that I was interested in product development. My manager claimed she would make that connection for me so I could grow in that direction. Unfortunately, that never happened. Instead, I was provided with links to a few courses online around skills that I already had advanced proficiency in. I was then given instruction that I needed to find ways to help the rest of my team develop these skill sets. The company did not plan on sponsoring any certifications and my manger did not follow-up with any cross-team development opportunities for me. Zero recognition for the work that I did -- In my annual performance review, none of my efforts were recognized. I am not even kidding! Despite my efforts being applauded on a nearly weekly basis by two CSMs and our VIP clients, I was told that I did not represent the company's values and I was blamed for the team's shortcomings by my manager. There was none of the "optimism" I was familiar hearing was shown in my last days. In the most untruthful performance review of my life, I was given 1s and 2s across the board. And even then, I was not given a Performance Improvement Plan. A couple of weeks later, the company laid me off because they decided to outsource the work that I did to countries outside of the US. It felt very heartless and wrong.