My first work experience for a US company

On August 1, 2022, I started work for a US company in NYC. 

On July 7, 2023, I decided to left that company for the reasons of:

• Open office space with cubes, no windows, and to ways to control AC, noise pollution that was caused by meetings and calls all around the office
• Archaic technology systems used in all departments
• Lack of time management for the projects
• Pyramidal subordination way - bosses word is the law and employees work with fear of sharing their opinion

Let me explain each of the pain points above in detail.

Open office space with cubes, no windows, and to ways to control AC, noise pollution that was caused by meetings and calls all around the office

The workplace environment was badly managed because the space was no options to control the temperature of the office and this makes troubles like unusual coldness or hotness. 

The AC controlling problem brings headaches, confusion, anxiety, sweating, wearing jackets and hats in working hours etc.

I know that windows are something reserved for the "big fishes" but I hope that my next job will have natural light during the daytime or at least windows somewhere around the office so workers can see something real.

Cubes - I finally met that type of office construction in my life here in the US. I was thinking that this approach is forgotten, but it felt somehow it had one idea - surveillance and control.

Noise - what you hear from the phone agents around and what makes me feel unconcentrated. 

Archaic technology systems used in all departments

This amused me like nothing before. I was sure that US company positioned on Times Square should have emerged tech tool stack, but reality was different:

• Reporting systems were like web databases from the 1990s - no way to export what you need or accessibility options to see the smallest numbers you have ever seen.
• The marketing tools that I used looked like Windows 95, UX was so bad, chances of mistakes huge, tons of steps for one simple task, manual work importing and exporting files from one system to other. 

Working for almost one year with old-fashioned tools makes me feel unhappy for my future development and the knowledge I should have gained during this period.

Lack of time management for the projects

• Project management system was waterfall type. 
• If someone is in dues and cannot finish the task in time all next ones are in due because of that. 
• Usually that was the people with power and the rest or the next one was not saying that the "boss" is not doing the task on time expected in the project.
• No one changes the suggested due dates even if the project scope is changed.

20% of my time every work day was to REMIND and NOTIFY and find a kind way to COMMUNICATE other coworkers to do their JOB IN TIME that was projected in the projects.

Pyramidal subordination way - bosses word is the law

One word I need to write here - FEAR. 

I had no fear, but when the rest of the team is upon that feeling...

Boss said that. VP wants this done. No room for opinion or thoughts.

"Can you work on this and let us when it is done." - a regular text in many emails that I was receiving often during my last few months at the position. 

 

 Of course, I learned a lot from the work there and there was a positive things that I experienced: 

• Gained communications skills
• Saw how to improve lots of old tools, reports and processes
• Learned how cultural differences in NYC are mixed 
• Entertained myself of that how a regular US worker behave in office (no offense ;-)