Pros
When I began working at Impact Club, I was excited about the consistent hours, flexible time off, and small group management. If you enjoy being a self-starter and are looking to receive virtually hands-off management with a plethora of responsibilities, you may like working here. The philanthropic aspect drew me to the company, and I was happy to learn how to grow as an associate and communicator by attending the events the company sponsored. It is true that Impact Club in theory seeks to be a humanitarian platform, and someone may feel a sense of reward working for a company that sponsors charity donations.
Cons
Immediately, from the first interviews, the management bragged about their exclusivity, claiming they had fired over 30 people within a year because of how particular they need their skillset to be. Being hired, I immediately felt like I was 'lucky' to be there, and there was a consistent overbearing attitude from management that made me feel like one mistake could cost me my job. (It did). Being a start up, I didn't fault the company for being so choosy, but it still didn't sit right with me. And even though the CEO did not even work in the office, he instilled a totalitarian atmosphere whenever he did visit or briefed us on the company's direction going forward. On my first day of work, I was handed a four page document instructing me on how to 'deal' with my CEO like he was a child or an absolute ruler. Even though it was made 'as a joke', it was pretty factual; the CEO of this company believes he is an unquestionable genius with the solution to everyone's problem. There is no room for dissent in his discussions, and he takes pride in his lack of empathy. He and management have the opinion of themselves that they are funny and relatable, but their humor is based on microaggressions and belittling their own team members. Impact Club promotes asking questions and forming discussions, but there is no room for exploration or dissection of ideas. Several times in our meetings, my coworkers would ask for clarification or offer an idea of their own, and these ideas would be immediately shot down or dismissed for not aligning with the CEO's vision of progress. Meetings revolve around business analytics and financial discussion, the highlight of most of them being that the company is poor and is losing money, so they are trying new things to bring in a profit (such as selling merchandise or charging event coordinators to host their own events). In general, the constant reminder that the company is not doing well financially is an added strain on all employees. Everyone who worked at the job when I started has since quit or been fired. Within my first week, an employee who had been there for about two years was fired without warning because they felt his job was 'unnecessary.' At the time, he was an in-house videographer and editor for company event videos. The CEO of Impact Club, rather than pay a fair editor's wage for an in-house professional, instead hires college students at the ludicrous rate of $150 an hour for an hour long event (so essentially, $150 for a gig) and expects them to deliver professional quality work. One of my coworkers who has since moved on was consistently harassed and publicly belittled by management and the CEO. On several occasions he was overworked and miscommunicated with; remember, the CEO is very hands off and occupies himself with many of his other business ventures, NOT the actual work you and your team do in Impact Club. My coworker would be yelled at for not prioritizing a project that was important to the CEO while trying to coordinate events for our clients. I personally was fired from this job without warning for not 'trying hard enough,' even though I was currently handling several different departments single-handedly and dealing with the repercussions of a family crisis. I was also never paid to take on extra projects outside of my working schedule, such as editing videos and shooting on location. I did a lot of work for free. TLDR; This isn't a job, it's a lifestyle. You are expected to work extremely hard, you just don't know it, because Impact Club tries hard to promote a relaxed, chill atmosphere. But if you are comfortable with going into a job knowing that you are disposable, go for it. Honestly, I really liked working at this company, and I got along with the small team of people that worked there. But don't be fooled by the message or the mission, or the 'opportunities for growth.' This is a very temporary job, so good luck if you decide to go for it, and keep your options open.
