First Job? How to spot the signs that you are in a toxic working environment

bellamineghino·May 05, 2021

Posted in:Advice Early Career Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Personal Growth Tech Vents Career Growth

My first working opportunity was out of a 21st century fairytale. The week I graduated from the University of Southern California, I was offered a position as a project manager at an app development agency based in Prague. Moving to Europe and starting a career in tech? Dream come true! Although, it soon became my nightmare.Just like a lot of first time job seekers, I didn't know how to look for the red flags that I was being taken advantage of. In fact, it took me almost 4 years to learn my lesson. I hope this helps someone else see that maybe it's time to move on, too. 1. I was incredibly underpaid and overworked. It makes sense to take a slightly lower salary for an entry level position, but this was extreme. I was working 12 hour days but was not able to make a decent living with my salary. I was taking $ from my savings every month to cover my already low expenses. To give you a rough idea, I was spending 65% of my salary on rent. My rent was not high. Once I stood up for myself, I was given a 25% salary increase which was used against me in future salary negotiations. 2. Things that were said to me by my male counterparts"you were only hired because the CEO wanted to sleep with you""you are so lucky you can eat anything you want""when do you think you want to have kids?""Based on how you look, I'm surprised you're so good at your job"After being at the company for 2 years and being promoted to Product Manager: "Frankly, you aren't qualified for this job"After being at the company for 4 years and not getting a raise for 2 years: "Because of your experience level, this is fair pay"In the moment, I brushed off a lot of these comments. Was it the Eastern European culture maybe? or worse... were they right? No, these comments were out of line and shouldn't have been made in the first place.3. Watching how the other women at the company were being treatedUnfortunately, I was not the first woman at this company to be treated so horribly. On the product team alone, the 3 women who were on the team at the beginning of 2020 had all left by the end of the year- or been pushed out. Take note of how other women are being treated by male counterparts. It's likely you will experience the same. There are so many more experiences I could add over the 4 years, but I am curious if you have gone through similar situations or what your red flags are. Thanks for reading!

teresaman·May 05, 2021

Thank you for sharing your journey and learnings! I shook my head so hard @ "I was given a 25% salary increase which was used against me in future salary negotiations". I'm glad you're able to spot all of these now and appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences!

bellamineghino·May 05, 2021

It's unfortunate, but I'm definitely able to identify these problems sooner and hope they don't happen for others in my position!

Kathie192·May 05, 2021

Did they give you a raise after you left?curious what that story was

bellamineghino·May 05, 2021

Hi @Kathie192. No, I wasn't given a raise after I left the company. My 25% raise was given 6 months into working for the company. However, future raises were still sparse and I was continually underpaid for the next 3 and a half years.

Particia111·May 06, 2021

This is so important for young professionals to watch out for, and women should evaluate this during the interview process, before they find themselves in a potentially toxic environment. I would say that in addition to observing how the other women at the company are treated, you should proactively outreach to female employees during the interview stage to understand their experiences - find out what opportunities they had for advancement, how they view the office dynamics, and how they felt their identity was viewed by their peers and managers (I'd try to find this information out from a coffee chat session, rather than in an interview). If you do explicitly ask about culture in an interview setting, I'd pay attention to whether they are able to provide concrete examples or if it seems aspirational.