Accepting a position here was the worst mistake of my career
Pros
Genuinely none. Do not apply.
Cons
I will keep this factual, because the facts speak for themselves. The product is underwhelming and does not live up to how it is presented during the interview process. Onboarding does not exist. No equipment was provided (no keyboard, mouse, or headset for a client-facing role). Access to core tools was not set up before the start date, and no one was assigned to guide new starters through anything. Despite this, if you are in a client-facing role, you will be assigned a full book of clients to manage from day one — with no context on who they are, what their history is, or what the company's strategy is. New employees are immediately added to 30+ Slack channels and hundreds of email threads with no context, making any form of focused work impossible. Meetings are booked constantly with no agenda. There is no documented strategy and no training on existing processes. Micromanagement is pervasive. You will not be trusted to send a client email without prior approval from the founders. Any autonomy promised at interview does not exist in practice. One of the co-founders shouts during client calls. This is not occasional — it is a pattern, and it is humiliating for the colleagues present on those calls. A new hire was also publicly called "slow" on their third day, in a second language, in front of colleagues. That is not a management style. That is workplace bullying. During interviews, flexibility around office attendance is implied. In practice, five days in the office is enforced with no flexibility. The working culture around hours and breaks warrants its own paragraph, because it borders on — and likely crosses into — illegality under UK employment law. The working day is 9am to 6pm, but lunch breaks are not taken and are not encouraged. Coffee breaks do not happen. If you stand up and try to leave your desk, you will be made to feel as though you are doing something wrong. This means staff are routinely working a straight nine-hour day with no rest break whatsoever. For reference, UK law (the Working Time Regulations 1998) entitles workers to a minimum 20-minute rest break when working more than six hours — this is not optional for employers. On top of this, tasks are routinely assigned at 17:59 to pressure employees into staying beyond 6pm. And because the company is understaffed, employees are expected to take their laptops home and continue answering client queries after a full day in the office. This is not an occasional ask — it is the expectation. When I raised these issues formally in writing after my first week, I was told directly by a founder that if I cared about mental health, this was not the company for me. Turnover in commercial and customer-facing roles is extremely high — and not just high, but rapid. Many people leave so quickly that the role never even appears on their LinkedIn profile. This is not a coincidence.
