Clueless - werkgeversreview Digital Marketing Specialist bij Nexus Direct

Busy, fast paced. Lots of room for internal growth. Awesome coworkers and leadership. Group strategic setting where any employee at any level can gain insight.

I was looking at some of the more recent reviews (I got a notification from when I followed while was applying) and I can see one specifically harsh newer one. I think it’s important to note that recently we have lost a couple of employees who, simply put, were not doing their jobs. I can only assume one wrote the last negative review, based on the specifics listed. The con is that in this industry, it seems common to find people who misconstrue criticism towards their work and the quality thereof for toxicity in the environment. This outlook can spread and bring down morale and make an amazing job feel not so fun. This is certainly a busy job, especially in peak fundraising months, and can be overwhelming for some. However, the knowledge gained is worth every minute.

There’s so much knowledge to be gained working at this agency and SOME of your coworkers will bend over backwards to help grow your career through learning, guidance, and support. That select group will be a collection of the kindest, most genuine, intelligent people you’ll ever have the privilege to meet. You will be working with nonprofit organizations who are making a positive, real-world impact, and you will come to care deeply for the causes, on a personal and professional level. Playing even a small part in their triumphs is incredibly rewarding.

Bear with me because this is going to be a long read — but, if you want an honest assessment of what it’s like to work here, this is it. Let me start by saying, any positive reviews you see were most likely written by members of management, at the owner's behest, in an effort to bury negative reviews and artificially inflate the company’s ranking. This isn’t speculation. Please read the negative reviews. Nobody is lying or exaggerating. You'll notice the company regularly responds to try to defend and deflect against the claims and discredit the writer, but if you read all of the negative reviews it's pretty hard to miss the common thread going all the way back to 2013. You're going to find much the same here, I'm just going to go more in-depth than anyone else has. So, let's get into it. To state it plainly, the nexus of the issue is the owner. This is a person who, by all appearances, is incapable of admitting she doesn't know everything and isn't always right, as well as someone who seems to derive great joy from mocking and belittling her subordinates, in all settings, at all times. During your employment, you can expect to experience gaslighting, manipulation, and humiliation, along with other questionable and harmful behaviors. There’s a noticeable pattern where a revolving cast of one or two people are the focus of the majority of her mistreatment, and those in her crosshairs are subject to extreme micromanagement, hypercriticism, and increased ridicule. The scrutiny can become so intense that even your facial expressions are policed (I wish I was joking). Worse still, she seems to have an uncanny ability to sense when you’re at your lowest, not just professionally, but personally as well, and that’s when she’s most likely to home in on you. This torment can last anywhere from a few days to over a year, it just depends on her mood, personal/professional life, and if anyone else catches her attention or draws her ire. As a new employee, you may receive a grace period before being targeted, but from day one you will be expected to compromise your morals and ethics by remaining silent as your coworkers are demeaned right in front of you. And, that’s the thing, the owner has so successfully built a culture of fear, distrust, and self-preservation, no one dares speak in anyone else’s defense. That’s because during your tenure, your job will never be secure, you will always be on red-alert from being treated like you’re stupid and can’t do anything right, you’ll be, not just encouraged, but expected to disparage and backstab your coworkers (Fun Fact: I was once criticized for not complaining about my colleagues), and you will live with the knowledge that the only way to not be the target of abuse is to ensure someone else is. Unfortunately, it’s when you’re the most deflated that you’ll likely be ostracized by your peers, because no one will be willing to risk putting themselves in the line of fire for you. But, to be fair, all the stress and insecurity doesn’t leave a lot of bandwidth to build the trust and friendship needed to form alliances necessary to stand up for one another, take real action, or force real change. And that is absolutely by design. Upper management knows what’s happening, and experiences it themselves, but as the only ones with even a semblance of power, they don’t appear to feel the sense of responsibility to protect their subordinates that you might expect. They aren’t just displaying complicity in maintaining the status quo; they’re actively participating and giving their tacit approval. Now, don’t get me wrong, the owner has a charm she turns on for clients, her present favorite employee(s), and, sometimes new hires, but like any mask, eventually her true face always seeps through. And, look, she’s not a total monster; she can be complimentary, incredibly encouraging, and even generous, but it feels bittersweet when you know what's waiting on the flip side. My best guess is, the owner has been able to continue terrorizing her employees because she’s never been held accountable for her abusive behavior, and it will probably proceed this way until she’s made to face some sort of consequences. Until that day, all I can say to anyone who presently works there or will in the future, is: Document Everything!! As for the work itself, you’ll hear a lot about how “Agency work isn’t for everyone” and “Not everyone can keep up,” and honestly, it can be fast-paced, and high stress (although a lot of that would be alleviated if the owner would get out of everyone’s way), but those phrases are really used to keep you from ever feeling secure in your job. Let me explain: Training is a crapshoot. You’ll either be thrown in the deep end to sink or swim, or be left endlessly adrift with nothing to do. Your workload will be much the same. There are people who work 5-6 hours a day and others who regularly clock 12-14 because the workloads are so ridiculously unbalanced. Management knows; most don’t care, and the ones that do can’t do anything about it. If you mention you’re overwhelmed, need help, or can’t take on a special project, you’ll be told “Agency work isn’t for everyone,” and “Maybe this isn’t the place for you.” Then when you keep doing your best but can’t keep up, you’ll invariably receive a poor performance review where you’ll be berated for not speaking up or asking for help. It’s an infuriating mind game designed to ensure blame always lands squarely on YOUR shoulders… and a convenient excuse not to pay you a bonus if they don’t want to. While remote work is usually considered a bonus, in this case it’s might be less so. Most of your day, every day, will be spent in asinine meetings, trapped on-screen, listening to the owner (who attends and dominates almost every single one) ping-pong through unrelated trains of thought, while you frantically try to decipher what information is relevant. Meetings almost always run long, are rife with confusion (again, the owner, who doesn’t actually read emails), a breeding ground for tongue-lashings, and more often than not, could have been accomplished via an email. You’re not allowed to multitask, nor are you allowed to jump off a late call to go to another scheduled one that’s starting, which makes it impossible to finish all your work during business hours, so you have to stay late most nights just to complete your daily task list. The quarterly meeting is a slightly different and decidedly more distressing set of meetings. Held over the course of a few days, via video call or on location, all or a select group of the staff will gather to discuss the company as a whole and each of the departments and clients. It would be tedious to go into too much detail, but here are the basic takeaways: everyone is stressed about the owner inevitably detonating, someone will always be the scapegoat and you really don't want it to be you, if you aren't throwing people under the bus it'll be considered not participating, and you'll become absurdly behind on work (because, again, you aren't allowed to multitask) and being behind will 100% be held against you. PTO is “unlimited” but requests are frequently met with side-eye, especially if you’re currently the focus of the owner’s wrath. You may hear about summer hours where the company closes early on Fridays, but if you have any sort of workload, don’t expect to benefit from it. Even with PTO, there’s a likelihood you’ll get stuck working past the time you planned to leave if you’re working part of the day, and oftentimes you’ll miss appointments altogether. You’ll be told “You aren’t chained to your desk,” “Feel free to go for walks,” and “Take your lunch,” but that’s all lip-service. You’re apt to be reamed if you aren’t available when the owner decides you’re needed, even if you’ve given prior notice of your intended absence (had your PTO approved). If she’s even slightly inconvenienced, you’re in for a world of hurt, my friend. There appears to be no acceptable way to submit a notice of resignation. No matter how much planning, consideration, or advance notice you give, you’ll be branded a traitor. And, once that happens, you’re blacklisted, meaning you’re cut off, and no one still working at the company is supposed to talk to you anymore (though there have been rare exceptions). It’s very cult-like. Despite denials to the contrary, nepotism is king here. While not exempt from the owner’s disrespect, they like to throw around their blood-given power to get what they want. They don’t seem to have to worry about completing tasks (on-time or otherwise), fulfilling commitments, or even showing up most days. And if you’re unlucky enough to be subordinate to them, you can expect to be fully neglected, yet still forced to finish their uncompleted work, while they fail up the ranks of the company on the back of your effort; not a thank you or acknowledgement to be seen. (I'm being vague for privacy reasons since the owner is the only publicly named figure.) Lest you think it’s all bad, just know that when company morale sinks low enough even the owner starts to be concerned about a mass exodus, you’ll likely receive an employee appreciation gift… because nothing soothes the shredded edges of your ravaged soul quite like a novelty "thank you" present that'll be held up as an example of how good you have it for the next 6 months. As we all should have learned by now, HR exists to protect the company, not you, but that has never been more apparent than here. Don’t even bother reaching out. You’re on your own. As an aside: While the majority of the staff is female, there is a distinct lack of diversity within the population. That isn’t an accusation, just an observation. So, after all that, here are my final thoughts: Working at Nexus Direct, you can expect to be denied dignity, respect, and compassion. You will experience demoralization, degradation, and victimization. You’ll always be a hair’s breadth away from being targeted or fired. And, you’ll be expected to meet not just your tormentor, but also your mistreatment, with gratitude and a positive outlook, or you’ll be the problem. Why would anyone with knowledge of the above, and even an ounce of self-respect, subject themselves to that? No amount of money is worth the harm, anxiety, self-doubt, and moral injury you will suffer working at this agency. Please do yourself a favor and the ultimate act of self-love, and continue searching elsewhere.