On the surface Matchesfashion.com has a lot of potential. An exciting fashion company, young workforce, a worldwide customer base, massive year-on-year growth, boasting to be a “tech company” promises of career progression, competitive rewards, work-life balance, passionate people and based in The Shard. Sounds amazing right?!
Let me set your expectations…
Starting at Matchesfashion.com
Expect your first day to start with a hunt for your new laptop and phone to find it has not yet been ordered due to the purchase order not yet being approved. Expect to spend the next week chasing it (with IT blaming Finance and Finance blaming IT), asking for access, auto signatures, printer setup, remote access etc. No formal welcome, no new starter guides, no meetings arranged with key colleagues nor any helpful tips to get you started. No formal system training and barely any documentation. You are just left to “learn on the job”. However, you will be part of a very dull and lifeless HR led induction where the guest speakers from the business presenting look and act like they have lost the will to live and are purely going through the motion of the induction rather than actually being passionate about where they work.
During Your Employment
Expect to be shouted at, told to stay late, get in early, and be prepared to have your ideas shot down and growth mindset challenged. You’ll be expected to make ground breaking changes to keep the company competitive but expect to do so with ageing technology and zero budget. No flexible working and no work-life balance. You will be expected to pick up the phone anytime of the day or night if someone senior within the business calls you and regardless of how late into the night you have worked you will be expected to be at your desk early the next day. The whole place is completely micro managed by the CEO who believes he knows the best way to run every single aspect of the business. The CEO will lead you to deliver on his ideas, argue with you if you provide different ideas or solutions, but he will hold you accountable when the decision he made was wrong.
Leaving the Company
No exit interview. No thank-you for your service. Expect to be dead to Matchesfashion.com the minute you resign.
Summary
A real shame to see such an exciting company falling apart due to the way they manage and treat their staff. The company thrives on treating people badly and senior leaders really believe bullying their staff is the only way to succeed. Champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget and run by bullies.
