I've waited a few months to let the dust settle and now I feel like I should share my truthful experience.
- No training what so ever. They are essentially throwing you to the wolves with minimal preparation. If you don't "get it" right away, you are berated by your peers
- Someone told on me to my manager for taking my dog out during "office hours". Keep in mind, this is during COVID times and I simply had to let my dog out to pee. Not only did this person tell on me and not directly confront me with their discomfort over me letting my dog out, but my manager sent me a full blown email talking about how that wasn't aligned with "company culture" and that I at least "needed to appear" to be avaliable at all times from 8-6 (and sometimes beyond)
- The role was not at all what was sold to me during the interview process. I was told I would be doing consumer research, but the Knowledge Associate role exists purely to create New Business decks for consultants at all hours of the night. Alternatively, you will be pulling other consulting firms' research to make your own "research paper" which is then used to sell RRA's offerings
- Some consultants are incredibly unprofessional and quite frankly, mean. I have very good friends at "traditional" companies like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and McKinsey and they are some of the nicest people I've ever met. Coming from a "traditional" cultural background does NOT excuse consultants from saying things like "I can't believe I have to explain this to you" or berating you at all hours of the night because you used a font they didn't like in a presentation you built for them
- When I put in my two weeks, my manager called me on my personal cell and asked why I was leaving. When I told him, he told me that if I really felt the things that I did, then I shouldn't complete the two weeks. I let the appropriate stakeholders know that I was leaving and was soon met with another phone call from my manager, essentially threatening me that "market research is a small world" and that he knew a lot of people in my field
- If that isn't enough, I was then told by HR during my exit interview that I actually did need to finish my two weeks and thus my manager gave me a list of tedious tasks that I was to complete before I left. One of them was creating the template for an email newsletter that would be blasted out to different teams. When I completed them, I was met with ridiculous feedback such as "the colors are wrong and the font isn't the right size". Listen - I was hired to do consumer research, not graphic design. When I received that feedback I told HR that I would accept less pay and I quit right then and there.
- I still get looked up by RRA associates on LinkedIn, even months after my departure. I admit I was not good at this job, but it was not the job I applied for, nor was it the job that was sold to me. I left because it completely degraded my mental health and I felt someone else could do the job better than I could. I don't know if it's an intimidation tactic, or if my name is being passed around the company still, but I do not care and I wish all of you nothing but the best
If you have any self respect, do not work for this company. They are cruel, lack boundaries, and have no regard for your personal life or goals. They will attempt to swindle you with a nice paycheck and semi-decent health insurance but ask yourself:
-Do you want a work-life balance?
-Do you want transferable skills that will allow you to take roles elsewhere that are aligned with your long term goals?
-Do you want to be respected by your peers?
If you said yes to any one of these, DO NOT APPLY HERE.
