Pros
Scenic Cotswold location of office space
Cons
If you are seeking a company where you will feel respected and trusted while having the initiative to develop you own projects and campaigns, do not apply for a job here. Micromanagement is wholeheartedly cemented across the management team, trickling down into senior and sometimes junior level employees. This has soured my experience at the company completely which leaves employees with with reduced morale and reluctance to develop and improve. Here are three key aspects I discovered while working at Wolfram Research: 1. Undermining - Constantly set up for failure: variations of meetings (at one point 3x sessions in one week) where my emails are placed on show for all to criticise, judge and tear apart, losing my desire to improve and, instead, pushing me down rather than looking to develop my skillsets through constant scrutiny. Clear favouritism amongst management staff and being led to believe I could assist with other areas of the business (networking, events) which never came to fruition. With this considered, there is no ambition to improve their workforce into a welcoming, rewarding environment; only for them to turn up, keep up, and shut up. 2. Micromanagement - Every aspect of my work under a microscope - admin, emails, zoom calls, to a point that I was no longer confident to talk on the phone out of fear of constantly being criticised. Never have I worked in an industry designed to provoke such control and detail obsession, provoking constant frustration amongst all staff members, distinct lack of trust, and reduced productivity. No aspect of creativity in the role, just a focus on all sales agents to be "pig headed" and obey orders, with no fair space to discuss or debate unnecessary processes and procedures. 3. Toxic – During my time there, I heard of several instances of casual racism from other colleagues and heard some instances of my own. By all accounts, many of these issues were taken up with HR and then the matters were pushed under the rug. From my own experience, particularly during tough periods, I have noted threats of violence towards other colleagues and managers, constant inappropriate ranting and shouting, bashing keyboards, and yelling over poor working conditions and environments, creating an unwelcome and unproductive working environment. Along with this, there are many instances of moody and blunt responses from collegues in coaching/mentoring positions, leaving employees to feel uncomfortable and exhausted. On top of this, there are impatient Seniors storming out of meetings unjustly, references to inappropriate (occasionally racist) comments, and frequent insults about other employee’s weight and appearance. One thing I will say to Wolfram’s credit was that it introduced me to how sales could be a rewarding, exciting, and innovative environment. Given that Wolfram presented the absolute opposite to this, I have developed a reasonable understanding of this field. The sales tactics and stratagems are outdated, with ideas, and opinions from junior employees completely ignored. Managers would rather adhere to using AI to write emails rather than put actual thought into an appropriate response. With many of Wolfram’s clients being advocates for literacy, this proves a constant challenge to the sales team’s creativity and interest, a trend that is represented in lacking sales figures.