Pros
I must first say I've heard good things about other branches and I don't know if this represents the whole company. - You get to put Dell on your CV - An opportunity to see other countries if you're not French
Cons
- Things were horribly disorganized from the moment I arrived - Dell had booked a hotel for me to arrive to. It turns out the hotel was close to the office, but remote from anything else. Buses were virtually unavailable and stopped early. The nearest market was an hour away walking. No one had bothered calling, letting me know I had to take this into account or even ask if I landed. - I didn't expect much, but the manager who hired me did not even bother to show up on my first day. I relocated from a different country and the first thing he told me when he did finally meet me was asking me if I would be willing to go back because he forgot to arrange my training and the next available session was where I came from. (I agreed) - The manager barely spoke English to the point it was sometimes very hard to understand what he wanted to say. I don't know if this was the reason but he was generally unpleasant and even through he sat most of the time on the opposite desk - he failed to even say or respond to a simple hello. He did make an effort to correct a few of my emails (failing to understand the meaning) (I responded positively thanking him) - Two weeks into my arrival, there was still no news about my training program or when I would actually start working as it was required I take the training before I start. The manager failed to communicate and let another employee show me around mean while. The employee herself as very impatient and in most time sent me links for something to read asking me by the end of the day I had already memorized everything. Other employees I asked (who were friendly) told me it was unorganized in the same way for some of them and that one of them spent a whole month on facebook waiting for his training. - The manager had no idea what was doing or what the plan was - I was on the same schedule with the employee who was supervising me, which meant early start and leave on some days and late start and leave on other days. - The same manager insisted I baked something during a charity event where employees baked cookies and cakes - even though I was placed in a hotel where there was no kitchen. I volunteered to help in other ways (organizing and helping selling the cakes) - It turns out I was doing a good job selling the cakes and at one point the manager told me to continue in same way, however less than an hour later he came back screaming at me to stop what I was doing (I was doing the same thing he asked me to continue doing). He left without explaining what I might have done wrong. 2 weeks later - I was about to go home (early) and the manager was totally surprised I was leaving early, as if I was leaving without permission - and made me feel like I'm guilty, explaining the schedule scheme. - In a conversation on the same day the manager took me into a room and told me he did not think I'm the right guy for the job and that I would have to leave the hotel and go back home (to a different country) the next day - and pay for everything. He also claimed he knew my schedule (even though he failed to understand it earlier that day) - The same manager demanded I sign a new form - in French. Refusing to do so - I demanded to speak to HR and demanded explanations. HR initially denied my questions but after explaining that I wouldn't sign anything in a foreign language (which was initially explained with "don't worry it's just something normal", demanding to be paid for the flights and the time and the rest, the managers explained that they thought "I wouldn't be able to rent an apartment" - an explanation that made no sense at all, especially when there was a Dell agent responsible for helping me find an apartment - (who at the same time everybody at the company seemed to complain at saying the agent was overcharging them) - The rest of the employees expressed being unsatisfied with the same manager but at the same time (when I was already away from the office) seemed like they were afraid to speak up. - The requirement was for only one more employee speaking a certain additional language (like I do) even a year after - on and off, looking like the company has been doing the same thing to other people - and in a conversation I had with one of the employees after - it really turned out I wasn't the only one who got treated in the same way. - After demands and a threat I would contact a lawyer (especially after the manager demanded I sign a document I did not understand - and an explanation that it was illegal and unprofessional to even ask, Dell eventually (after over 2 months) paid for one of the flights, and my salary.
