Where do I start?
The pay is extremely low, I started at 19.5k per year and quickly found out many of my colleagues were on the same amount regardless of how many years they'd worked at the company.
There is no real prospects for promotions and many people ended up leaving soon after starting due to the ongoing bullying at that company. I've never been in a company with such a high employee turnover.
The staff are extremely divided in terms of gender, most/all of the photographers, retouchers and IT are men. Most of the low paid producers and stylist are women or gay men.
If you are not white and are seen talking with other POC you will be told off for disrupting others who are working. There is no HR department and it's likely that your line manager will be the one bullying you. There really is no escape.
Speaking of which there is no official hiring process. My experience was that the receptionist would be the one reading through the CVs often times the production team will laugh at your application. I overheard the girl being told to delete any CVs with "weird" sounding names for a more senior position.
Overall the company culture is extremely toxic
- low/no budget company events
- bitchiness between staff
- super cliquey
If after reading this you are still keen to work with this company, my advice would be to ask for a higher salary as it will probably never increase. In addition be super fake and nice like everyone else until you at least pass your probation. Finally just mind your business and don't tell anyone about your personal life.
