I Got Duped, Don’t Apply - Research Associate Third Bridge Employee Review

1.0
Jan 23, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I received a good salary and benefits during a 10 month intellectual sabbatical.

Cons

Where do I begin? From the moment I started my interview, this company was feeding me lies. I was told this would be a research position in Forum and even went about practicing an example day in my interview. That was the only time I ever did research. This job is a cold calling sales nightmare. It’s constantly about KPIs and quotas, not about growth. There is a bottleneck of good talent held back by incompetent management. The Management of US Forum Research are particularly incapable of doing their jobs. For my whole tenure, they were nasty and condescending. They made themselves seem like they had all the answers when they had none. The textbook definition of passive-aggressive, they were incapable of offering a word of thanks or gratitude. One of my old colleagues at the company had to report to HR that management threatened to fire them over jury duty, which is illegal. Why Third Bridge Management promoted these managers is beyond comprehension. They also do not exhibit good standards, i.e., constantly looking disheveled and not practicing good behavior with subordinates. The people are all suffering in collective solidarity, but there are more happy people at a funeral than Third Bridge. No one is happy. We’ve had cuts held over our heads and a bonus scheme that punishes those who aren’t AI Robots producing 40+ calls a Quarter. The work life balance doesn’t exist. This company is a street-legal pyramid scheme. When looking to leave, I was told by a recruiter that I had no transferable skills. I have been at my new employer for less time but I have already learned more.

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Third Bridge Response
2y
Thanks for taking the time to give us feedback. We take the points you have raised seriously and would like to address some of them here and welcome a further conversation at team@thirdbridge.com. First and foremost, it is important to us that before anyone joins the team, they understand and are excited about what a role at Third Bridge offers. That’s why we recently updated our interview process to give interviewees an even deeper sense of what a typical day looks like, including mock conversations and negotiations, incoming research projects, and more. A number of our roles are target-based which means it can be a competitive and driven environment, but our bonus structure and benefits reward this. We have a high performance culture and, while some roles may need to work outside of standard office hours (9am-6pm) to support our clients on occasions, we know that our compensation and benefits offering is competitive and employee focused. We are a company that prioritises Our People Growing - in fact, it’s one of our culture commitments. We have a robust training programme for new and developing managers and promote people when they are ready. We feel fortunate to have a talented group of employees and leaders who make our culture of growth and development a reality, but understand that there’s always room for improvement. The psychological safety of our teams are of the utmost importance. We are committed to continuing to build a supportive environment where you feel you can speak up to your manager, leadership team, HR or anyone else if something doesn’t feel right. We have several avenues employees can take openly or confidentially. On the point regarding jury service, our HR policies are regularly reviewed in line with legal obligations across the jurisdictions in which we work and we will always honour the lawful requirements of our employees. Again, we would be open to speaking further about your experience and learning how we can continue to improve.

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Pros

Engaging, becoming your own industry expert, self paced.

Cons

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2.0
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Pros

Good entry-level opportunity with exposure to fast-paced, client-facing work. The company hires driven, sociable individuals and can be a strong starting point for building communication, prioritization, and execution skills in a high-performance environment.

Cons

High turnover and inconsistent management quality significantly impact the employee experience. Success is heavily dependent on your team lead and manager, with limited recourse if you’re placed under ineffective leadership. In my experience, poor communication, lack of emotional intelligence, and unclear expectations from management made it difficult to succeed and negatively affected day-to-day productivity. Internal processes around performance management and PTO lacked transparency. I was placed on a PIP and terminated shortly after (within a week) in a way that felt abrupt and not aligned with prior communication, which was initially framed as a discussion around pending PTO. There were also delays in PTO approvals, and I experienced issues with compensation adjustments following a promotion that required follow-up to resolve.

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