Pros
A few genuinely nice and caring colleagues who are still friends to this day.
Cons
When I was flown to San Francisco for my final interview, the CEO said, “You must think we’re sociopaths from our poor Glassdoor reviews.” I didn’t even know about the reviews at that point. When I read them, I found some of the comments hyperbolic and histrionic. Surely the work wouldn’t push me into therapy, as one reviewer said. Well, it didn’t push me into therapy, and nobody there is a sociopath as far as I can tell, but the nuances and details of many of the reviews are spot on. Pay attention to them, and if you get hired, pay attention to your boundaries and limits. Up until the day I was fired, they continued to praise my efforts, my diligence, and my work. I was repeatedly told, “You’re asking all the right questions.” I had no hint of my looming termination. In my last week of work, I drove four hours to an event — I rented the van, loaded the storage unit alone, and worked all day at the event before returning home. At the event were two prospective hires, competing — we were secretly told — for one spot. I guess that spot was mine. I didn’t appreciate the lack of warning or notice, nor did I appreciate the repeated commendations of my work up until the day I was let go. I lasted two months. The many complaints aside — supervisors working on vacations, nights, and weekends, and expecting the same of me on my vacation to my sister’s destination wedding; the intentional withholding of training and information to see “if you can figure it out”; the meetings so numerous that the time for actual work is nearly negligible — all those complaints aside, here is my number one complaint: the work was promised to be high-level, creative, and exciting. I found it to be none of those things. Coming from a background in journalism and humanitarian filmmaking, I am comfortable with high expectations and short deadlines. The work at REACH was a tedious retread of templates and ChatGPT ideas. At least 60 percent of my work was copying and pasting reports and changing the names and dates. The rest was taking notes from meetings and summarizing those notes. I would say the skill level required was intern-level, but wading through the immensity of the dross required herculean effort. That combination of high-stress boredom made for a very dull and anxiety-riddled two months. A potent combo, to be sure. The one thing I did enjoy was researching and calling community leaders, dealerships, and prospective partners. It felt like a fun balance of investigation and follow-through. Sadly, that was about 5 percent of my weekly routine. I don’t really know who would enjoy this role. Creative, high-level thinkers will want something more engaging and real. Beginners looking for something introductory will be overwhelmed by tasks. People who think they love computer-based remote work will feel like they are never offline. I know there are other teams at the company who seem happy and connected. I hope you land among them.