Hostile feedback environment and very limited onboarding support
Pros
Talented colleagues and interesting problems to work on. Unfortunately my experience with my direct manager overshadowed what could otherwise have been a positive role
Cons
I joined the team excited to contribute, but my role ended during probation. From early on the management style I experienced felt unusually hostile for someone still onboarding into a complex and highly technical domain. Feedback was frequent and delivered in a strongly critical tone, and discussions often felt confrontational rather than collaborative. At one point I was accused of my work being AI generated when it absolutely was not. Contributions I made in meetings were sometimes later raised in one-to-one sessions as serious mistakes. One of the most difficult aspects of the experience was the contrast between how my manager was perceived internally and how interactions sometimes unfolded in private one-to-one meetings. In group settings the tone could appear friendly and supportive, but in one-to-one sessions it could shift dramatically and escalate quickly into very harsh and personal criticism. This made it difficult to raise concerns because the external perception of the situation was very different from my experience in those meetings. At one point I asked if someone else could join our sessions to help ensure feedback was delivered professionally and constructively. Following that request the situation escalated and HR became involved, which ultimately resulted in my role being terminated during probation. There were also moments where feedback and interpretations of work felt inconsistent with previous discussions, which created confusion about expectations and made it difficult to respond constructively. Over time this created an environment where it felt as though mistakes were being collected rather than addressed collaboratively. During the hiring process it was agreed that I would join at a Senior level. While I was still serving my notice period at my previous role, another designer was hired as a Product Designer. This effectively changed the structure and implications of the role before I had even started, and the difference in titles and expectations was later referenced in discussions around my performance. This change had not been communicated during the hiring process and meant the role differed from what had originally been agreed. The timing of this hire created the impression that the need for the role may have already changed before I arrived.
