What are traits are a toxic team? (Esp. At a boutique)
Title. At a boutique, trying to see if I need to suck it up or if it’s truly toxic. Been here for 1.5 years.
Thanks
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Do you want to speak up and state your opinion but choose to hold it in and bite your tongue because... you think it's inappropriate?
If you have no voice and are expected to just be an excel and ppt monkey then probably a pretty toxic place.
Lack of time off is a red flag tbh. Especially if you want to make a career there
"We work hard and play hard"
Do you feel supported? Do you receive feedback both negative AND positive about your work? Besides the obvious yelling/screaming do you dread going to work in the morning?
There's plenty of ways to think about it but if it wasn't a toxic situation would you be asking if it was?...
Do they have a high turnover (see LinkedIn)? How do people treat the interview (e.g., do they show up delayed with no excuse or excuse themselves? Are they interested in you or just some formal requirement? What vibes do you get? Does your interview partner looked like he just went 12 rounds with Ali and can barely keep himself / herself up? If they mention a lot of team events / after work, do they provide any example or something online shown (not necessarily so but many firms just do it for branding) etc
Generally, you can get a sense of what’s the team / person like and if it matches with your impression.
High turnover could mean they have a hire and fire culture. Not a good thing. If you’ve noticed that people are leaving it’s good to ask in an interview as to why they’re leaving.
IB is always going to be inherently toxic in some ways because in needs to be in order for the business platform to function.
I’d say when things are “toxic” is when verbal abuse starts happening, bullying, name calling, leaving you out of meetings, you’re signalled out from your peers, and you feel like you’re walking on eggshells around your bosses.
Your comment implies IB would be unable to function without the toxicity, which quite frankly I disagree with. Not sure if you’re including long hours under a toxic culture, but I personally would consider that a separate issue.
Bumping solely for this to get more sb
You’re walking on eggshells constantly around your superiors. They tell you to ask them questions when you don’t know something but shit all over you when you do ask. You don’t feel supported and all you have is yourself when you don’t know something and need guidance.
They don’t hire associates those who know, know.
Pls explain
Ducera
It’s going to be more subtle than you think in 2024 — rarely will you be explicitly “hazed.” Rather…
1. No culture at all, just extreme seriousness, within a backdrop of coldness, unfriendliness, unapproachability, zero small talk/collegiality, and the feeling that you are a “number” rather than a human being
2. The impending notion that, no matter what you do, you will be “in trouble” for something … that you can “do no good” for your manager and team (this is largely because they do not explain things and then expect timely perfection)… also see a “lack of bandwidth” to get juniors up to speed, but then it’s the junior who is punished for this
3. Disproportionate turnover, demonstrated as a pattern over time, relative to job/firm/location…especially chilling if it’s people leaving their commitments earlier than expected in all/almost all cases
4. Discouragement from asking questions, either explicitly “don’t ask me questions,” by intimidation (getting berated for asking), judgment (“that’s a stupid question”), or avoidance (managers making themselves extremely inaccessible for asking questions)
5. Hours/conditions that are aberrationally poor for the role/firm, with no associated benefit in comp/title/prestige
It’s not likely you’ll get routinely (physically) yelled at, harassed, or hazed like in the movies. Firms are careful not to be seen as abusive now; too much legal liability. But don’t underestimate their ability to make your life miserable without technically being abusive.
They have a 5’7 power tripping VP on giving you useless work to demonstrate authority.
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