- My role as an associate is slightly more admin-y than I was expecting. This means I'm doing a fair amount of repetitive work which feels like it could, ultimately, be automated. Working for a startup, I am not surprised that not everything has been automated yet as processes are still changing but I can see work going on constantly to automate tasks that can be.
- A number of staff members have laptops which are simply not suitable for the job. It is quite frustrating spending half an hour doing something manually when you know someone else can do it at the click of a button, yet at the same time it's uncomfortable to constantly ask others to do your work. More consistency across the quality of laptops would be fairer and definitely ease dissatisfaction.
- Probably the biggest con for me are working hours. As an associate, I would say I easily get all of my work for the day done by 5pm, if not 4pm. I understand there is potentially some flexibility for people to go home if they don't have anything to do, but it is certainly a case of asking which can feel quite awkward at times. One extra hour doesn't sound like much, but I think it would make a massive difference to people's day having that extra time in the evening.
- Processes are constantly changing which is a good thing overall as it means they are being improved, but it also generates extra work for people. This is particularly true when a change has to be made retrospectively as it confuses things endlessly.