Advice & Support About Leaving Reviews on Glassdoor.

K96

Hi All, 

I would really appreciate some advice. My background is in the Fashion Industry as an Assistant Designer, (over 4 years now). My experience in this industry have been so terrible that I’ve decided to take a break from the industry until I have my confidence back and get a role where I want to commit to. I do love what I do, which makes leaving the industry very hard. 

After being made redundant last year, I spent months job searching, finally was offered a role at a small brand as a assistant to the women’s designer and men’s designer. I’m going to bullet point so it’s not so long to read! (Sorry it is a long one but a lot happened!!) 

• About a month into role was asked to go into the office during the covid lockdown, I didn’t feel comfortable with it and also lived with someone vulnerable. Mentioned this but they still suggested I went in - this then became permanent. None of the other designers were asked to do this. 
• When I started the role, I wasn’t given any equipment or programmes to do my job. A cracked screen eventually was sent and then was asked to dispose of it myself because I couldn’t use it. 
• When I went into the office none of the computers worked, I had to spend £500 out of my own pocket to get a decent laptop to do my job!!!  
• After a couple of months in was asked to take ownership of accessories and menswear bottoms. The director said they will find someone to replace my role as he really liked my designs! Was really pleased until I mentioned this to the other designers - they didn’t know and definitely didn’t approve. So I then had to carry on assisting the women’s designer (let’s call them Jan) and the menswear designer (let’s call them Sue) and the head of design (let’s call them Bob) and take ownership of Accessories (womens and mens) and menswear bottoms. So basically I was doing a 5 person job but as it’s a small company and I wanted to take on the challenge I carried on, even though I felt completely let down that I couldn’t be a full time designer! 
• Would work 9am-6pm everyday and sometimes go home and do more work,  work weekends or on my days off!!! Because of the pressure of the job and others requests I had to do it. Never had a proper lunch break, sometimes forgot to even go to the toilet! I was exhausted. 
• Mentioned my issues and struggles with the head of design, Bob (who wfh permanently and part time), then they decided to then hire a print assistant rather than another assistant for womens or men’s. When the print assistant was hired, they had nothing to do so would paint all day. (No offence to them, I just thought it was bad management). 
• I have fibromyalgia (a chronic illness) and my pain management physio suggested I speak to them about my problems doing things physically in the office such as lifting heavy boxes. (I also recently had surgery). I was then told ‘well, we all have to do some lifting from time to time’. And dismissed. 
• *The most important part of this topic* The women’s designer, Jan was a huge challenge to work with. Jan told the team that she has been sacked from every job she had because of her attitude and made jokes about it (red flag). Everyday she would talk to me like I was dumb or a child, rolled her eyes or snapped at me when I suggested something to help or make things easier, When I was working on menswear or my own accessories, she would find excuses for me to stop doing other work to help her with minor tasks such as sending her a CAD, or tech pack because she couldn’t find them. I would have to plan my weeks ahead to prioritise my workload, and then would suggest days to work on these to the designers. Sue was very organised and efficient and always let me work on what I needed to, however Jan said once “well if the swimwear cads are not finished it’s not my problem”, and then complain to Bob and then get her own way. I’d then have to cancel all important tasks that have deadlines to help her on minor tasks. I would do every single CAD and tech pack for Jan, and then she would ask me to send them individually to her. She would then spend hours going over each one with me, to re-do minor details (such as a word on a tech pack!!) or she would change her mind and want something else. These cads would be exact copies of something already in the shops, and I would worry about copyright, but as I’m assisting I have to do what they ask in the hope it will look very different when In production. 
• There was then a scenario where I broke my metatarsal in two places one weekend. I immediately knew that my work would not be happy but I plucked up the courage to tell them that I cannot drive at all or get around without crutches. They were very disappointed with me, and no one asked if I was okay. Jan then said “well you can still come into the office, it’s just a broken toe”. The director firstly was fine with it but then called me and said I had to arrange someone to take me to the office because work is behind and I needed to be in the office. I was so devastated and upset, that I broke down crying at this point. I ended up arranging my boyfriend to take me very early morning to the station, and hobbled around on the train and tube and then had to ‘walk’ for 15 minutes to get to the office as no bus went there and couldn’t afford a taxi. My hands were sore and red after getting around in the crutches. I get to the office and no computers work. So I had to compromise with other tasks. I was asked to review all menswear accessories as I wasn’t able to get into the office previously, so I panned with everyone to work on them in the afternoon after Jan insisted I attend a meeting with her to go through how to do work with the print assistant (earlier that day the print assistant told me that the head designer cancelled it as I have work to do). So the women’s designer went against what we asked and wanted to waste my time even further. 
• The next day I had a funeral. Which I told everyone beforehand and took it as annual leave. Because the computers didn’t work the day before Jan insisted I work that morning before the funeral to finish a task. Because I wanted to show I was keen to do well at my job I agreed and got to work that morning. To my surprise after months of asking for time to work on accessories to Jan, Bob was telling me to catch up. I then replied asking for time to work on the accessories instead of womenswear one day, and that I have tried to schedule this in weeks ago but had to assist on womenswear. 
• I get a phone call from Jan shouting down the phone at me. Saying I’ve thrown her under the bus. I said I’m sorry I made you feel that way. She lost it and threatened my position at the company and said “it’s too late”! I was shaking with anger and upset: 2 hours before I went to a funeral which Jan knew I was going to. Bob then replied saying that I’m slacking and that my position could be jeprodised if I don’t get accessories done. I knew by this point that Jan has already called Bob to say that i was in the wrong, even though Jan never did any work that I knew about, and just stayed at home and went to the ‘vets’ every other day! The next day I call the director to explain everything in a professional manner,and that I wanted to hand in my notice. He then apologised and said he didn’t want me to hand in my notice and to sort something out with Bob. 
• The day after I get a call from Jan again, screaming down the phone at me saying all my work is bad and I can’t do anything. (Even though she cannot cad herself and Sue has said she loves my cads). It was very hurtful but I stayed calm and said I think she has been challenging to work with. It got so out of hand that I then said calmly to her ‘it is getting out of hand now, so I’m going to hang up the phone’. She then called me back straight away but I never picked up. I told the director that I’m definitely handing in my notice, to which he told me he hasn’t sorted anything out as they were waiting to see when my broken foot would get better. (What has that got to do with anything)?!
• That was the cherry on top. So I handed in notice and even though I had no contract (after asking for one multiple times) and did 6 months I was asked to do 30 days notice. I was then underpaid a lot that month… 

So basically, I want to give a bad review on Glassdoor because I don’t want others to go through what I went through there (there’s already one that says disorganised). But will it effect my professional reputation and what do I say? Also, when I apply for new roles what do I say to explain why I left? 

Just to add, I loved the rest of the team at this company but sadly I didn’t work with their team. It seemed to be issues in the design team only. Which is a shame, as I got really lovely messages from the team when they found out I left.  

Thank you for reading, and many thanks for your advice in advance. 

Brie

There can be a lot of respect in close knit communities for anyone who manages to come away from such a toxic situation intact.  I used to work with a Jan and anyone else in my industry that I talked to was always surprised that I survived in the job as long as I did.  I never had to say anything about her as everyone knew what she was like.  

K96

Thank you for all for your helpful comments. I will take on the advice and not say anything on Glassdoor. 

It’s difficult as I feel annoyed at myself for leaving when I did, but it just got way out of hand and I really wasn’t happy or healthy! 

 I gave the company plenty notice when I left and we all left on good terms (apart from Jan!). It’s good to know I’m not the only one who deals with a Jan haha! 

Hopefully I will learn from this and find ways to deal with situations like this again. It seems very common in the fashion industry! 

Another question I wanted to ask is - what do I say my reasons are for leaving this role? As I don’t want to be too honest next time I have an interview. 

Thanks again! 

K96

Jillanddy said:

Whatever you do, never speak badly about an employer you left to another one. And it somewhat depends on what the former employer might say. It's a difficult one because you also can't lie. So I think my version might go along the lines of "I damaged my foot badly and was really struggling with getting around, working and so on, and right in the middle of a pandemic so unable to use public transport and honestly it was getting me down because I felt that I was letting my employer down and didn't know when I would be better. So I decided to take some time off to totally recover with no pressure. Thankfully I am now 120% better and raring to go on my next opportunity".

It kind of contains a lot of the truth in a slightly different order! And makes you look like an exemplary employee who cares about their employer.

Make sure that you join a union next time you get a job!

Thanks so much, this is so helpful and I feel a lot better about the situation after all your advice so really appreciate it. 

I will definitely be using your example in a future interview as I agree, that speaking badly about a previous employer does not look good. I did wonder if saying ‘I didn’t feel valued as an employee’ is worth mentioning too. 

K96

Jillanddy said:

K96 said:

Jillanddy said:

Whatever you do, never speak badly about an employer you left to another one. And it somewhat depends on what the former employer might say. It's a difficult one because you also can't lie. So I think my version might go along the lines of "I damaged my foot badly and was really struggling with getting around, working and so on, and right in the middle of a pandemic so unable to use public transport and honestly it was getting me down because I felt that I was letting my employer down and didn't know when I would be better. So I decided to take some time off to totally recover with no pressure. Thankfully I am now 120% better and raring to go on my next opportunity".

It kind of contains a lot of the truth in a slightly different order! And makes you look like an exemplary employee who cares about their employer.

Make sure that you join a union next time you get a job!

Thanks so much, this is so helpful and I feel a lot better about the situation after all your advice so really appreciate it. 

I will definitely be using your example in a future interview as I agree, that speaking badly about a previous employer does not look good. I did wonder if saying ‘I didn’t feel valued as an employee’ is worth mentioning too. 

Oh absolutely not! That is speaking badly of your former employer. "I feel that now I am seeking new opportunities I want to expand my horizons and take on new challenges and opportunities beyond what I did in my previous role". Take all your first thoughts on what you like to say and rewrite them to say something positive about what you want from your next role. They shouldn't care how bad your last employer was (and if they do, it's probably only for the gossip about a competitor). They should only care about whether you are the catch of the century. You are selling yourself, not comparing them to your last employer.

Okay noted! Thanks so much