Very Disappointing Manager Experience in Research - Guest Insights Analyst Vail Resorts Employee Review

3.0
Jul 6, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company is awesome - it's eco-conscious, treats its employees well, offers insanely good benefits and perks (such as hotel discounts and a free ski pass). Overall the people are very intelligent and driven. My compensation was good as well.

Cons

My personal experience was a disappointing one. I was hired under the director, who I consider to be a great leader, but about 2 months in, my colleague was promoted above me. She was great at her job tasks, but seemed to be untrained in managerial skills and was difficult to work under - oftentimes contradicting herself, micromanaging constantly when she said she didn't like to... she also had a very narrow viewpoint that left little room for creative freedom or, put simply, doing anything in any way besides her own. It was obvious that she was new at managing, and very little training was offered to me because she was "too busy," yet she demanded perfection. She made it apparent when she was underwhelmed with me and that bred constant insecurity and lack of confidence in myself in the role. She was hot and cold with what appeared to be a forced steely demeanor. It was an unfortunate experience all around and I was ultimately let go with no probation period, no explicit warning, and no opportunity to search for other jobs within the company - all things that were promised to me by my manager. Instead, she chose to use her cold "leader" attitude to eliminate me swiftly like the poor business decision that I obviously was.

Explore other reviews about Vail Resorts

5.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Upper management was very helpful

Cons

Seasonal position only, wished it was year round

2.0
May 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Most people are smart, passionate, and enjoyable to work with and be around. - Fairly frequent opportunities for development and advancement through the internal job board. - Nice perks if you're into skiing or riding.

Cons

- There's an unspoken expectation to regularly work significantly more hours because the majority of employees are very passionate about the ski and ride industry, which isn't great for work life balance. There's not much down time either; you're either hustling in season or hustling to prepare for the next season. - Climate change poses a significant threat to the future of the company. The season pass model mitigates some of the impacts, but not as much as senior leadership asserts. And, since bonuses are tied to company results, you can end up working super hard all year and still end up getting half of your bonus target due to uncontrollable weather conditions. - The culture has taken a serious hit since enterprise transformation work began. Lots of people are constantly stressed out and the atmosphere in the office is depressing. - Most of the time, it feels like senior leadership makes decisions in a vacuum without consulting any of the people that would be responsible for the downstream work associated with the decision. For example, I've seen senior leaders decide on a savings target multiple times without consulting the experts, who then have to scramble to figure out how to make it work. It creates chaos and negatively impacts morale. - This organization has a wordsmithing problem. I've never worked at a company that spends such an inordinate amount of time on the framing of a message compared to the actual substance of the message.

3
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