Databricks

Many of the engineers I worked with are brilliant, supportive, and truly wonderful friends who I will always cherish. No action the executives take can diminish the impact these relationships have had on my life and happiness.

I experienced a whole host of managerial issues at Databricks, but my exit process really takes the cake.

When an exec found out I was leaving, he sent my skip level to convince me to stay. My skip level started our one-on-one by asking me why I wanted to leave. I started to say that many of the points I made in meetings and code reviews were ignored, but he interrupted me to dismiss my point as minor. He told me I could not possibly find a job as good as what I had at Databricks. He monologued for twenty minutes after my initial two sentences, concluding by calling me childish. At this point, he asked me if I had any other reasons for wanting to leave.

The remainder of this meeting cyclically replayed the first twenty minutes. I would start to answer his question, and within my first two sentences, he would cut me off to dismiss my words and call me unprofessional, unreasonable, and childish. He repeatedly emphasized that I would never be able to find anything better. He told me I was lucky to have gotten a job at such a special company. He concluded this meeting by telling me I would never be happy no matter where I went.

For the months before and weeks after this meeting, I regularly brought up my concerns (including the challenging management) to my chain of management, but nothing was ever done. Instead, this skip level has since been promoted. Nothing has improved, and nothing is likely to improve in the future. It’s a shame.