At first, everything seemed to be going well. Everyone appeared kind, and the work environment felt healthy. However, a few days into the job—once I was assigned a project to manage entirely on my own—issues began to surface.
I was given no clear guidelines or expectations for the final outcome, only a vague overview. I had to actively ask questions just to gain basic direction. Unfortunately, asking questions came with its own challenges. My manager would often respond with condescending remarks such as, “What do you think?” rather than providing a direct answer. If I responded incorrectly, they would then pose the same question to a coworker, who would answer it correctly, which felt patronizing and undermining.
It began to feel like asking for instructions was perceived as a weakness. When I brought up these concerns and explained that I learn best through clear, structured direction, I was met with comments about how they dislike micromanaging and advised not to take things personally. This dynamic continued throughout my entire time at the company.
When mistakes occurred, instead of acknowledging the lack of direction, the response was often passive-aggressive and rooted in blame. There was little grace for errors, even though I was a new hire trying to manage a project with minimal training. My onboarding was extremely disorganized—aside from a brief office tour during my first week, there was no formal training, no manual, and no structured sessions for my role. And yet, when mistakes were made, I was held fully accountable.
They were overly critical of the work I submitted, despite not providing any standards or references. Meanwhile, the same attention to detail was clearly lacking in their own processes—particularly in training and job clarity.
My employment was eventually terminated two months later, with the reason given being that the company was “restructuring” and no longer required my position.
The organization suffers from disorganization, a culture of blame, and internal office politics. There is also a noticeable issue with cliques that influences the workplace dynamic.
