Workiva

Big company, great benefits. In the Ames location, there was a daily buffet and a beautiful office.

There are a lot of offensive practices in the IT department, and I experienced managers who treated women very differently from their male counterparts. I was regularly hearing my manager call women a common hate word on the phone and in meetings.

After completing a big project for the company toward the beginning of my time there, I went from being over-praised to micromanaged very suddenly. I was constantly being blamed for 'not working,' even though according to their project management software, I was pulling most of the weight. I was heavily managed over my lunch hour and even had to start taking my computer into the restroom to ensure I could respond promptly and not get hassled. I was told I needed to respond in under 10 minutes at any time of day, including outside 9-5.

I was patronized out of the position (e.g., hour-long talks about my irresponsibility, attitude, etc., without HR present). I had to quit without notice for my mental health. Shortly after leaving, a fellow colleague surprised me by reaching out to tell me all about how she and another woman experienced the exact same treatment after this project. She even told me, during said project, how she was harassed by upper management to try to get me to work faster than I already was, getting me to work into the night and on weekends to meet the unreasonable deadline. I truly believe we were burned and turned for this project or to reach some sort of equity quota.

I don't believe the above review is representative of all the management, and I especially felt respected by leadership. Overall, before my mistreatment, I was enjoying my time and enjoyed the company. The company itself is great, and I understand how these things go under the radar from leadership when a company grows as quickly as Workiva has. A few bad apples ruin the bunch.

Listen to these reviews, leadership—don't tout equity without practicing it. At any rate, I appreciate my opportunity there. I just desperately wish I would have landed in a different department as a woman engineer.