I have sat on this review for several months in order to try and write as unbiased a review as I can. Unfortunately i am at a loss on how to sum up my experience at Alphasights without sounding like a troll because frankly all that glitters is not gold.
Firstly there is a blatant glorification of working overtime. Management pushed down "work-life integration" as the new norm and scoffed when any of us brought up concerns about working late - recalling that they are a "client-first service". Equally frustrating is how internal awards glorify going above and beyond by responding to clients at all hours of the night. We were often (and regularly) made to respond to emails and phone calls well past 10pm and would be "amended" i.e., called out the next day if we failed to do so. While new recruits are intitially led to believe that this is rare occurence - do not be fooled, this is very much the norm.
Toxic competition runs rampant in AS's hallways. I always knew that sales is cutthroat but AS's way of rewarding and encouraging team members to get KPI points at the expense of your fellow colleagues is truly shocking. Managers are often underprepared to deal with conflict resolution which leads to misunderstanding and resentment.
Micromanagement also runs rife at this institution. meetings are held THRICE a day on top of the VP and manager having access to individual associate emails meaning there is virtually no autonomy in the way you work.
I have brought this up briefly above as well - management is truly disappointing because AS functions under a 'nepotistic' hierarchy framework (i.e., there are no external hires - all senior management is made up of people internally progressing up the ladder). This leads to short-sighted, close minded and extremely frustrating leadership that lack empathy and refuse to take in external points of view.
When i reached out for help to my manager - i was gaslit into thinking i was not fit for the job/ i was not doing enough, told that mental weakness is a sign of passiveness and that i was probably not cut out for the job.
Based on everything I've mentioned above, rather unsurprisingly -employee retention is abysmally low. In my own short stint (just over a year), more than just a handful of people resigned, quit or were sacked for 'poor performance'.
The enduring negative effects of being pushed to both my psychological and physical limits followed me for months after I left the firm… It is only recently that I have started to feel like myself again.
