Single Worst Experience of Entire Career
Pros
Newly-renovated cafeteria. Free breakfast every morning. Valet parking.
Cons
The time I spent at eBay was the worst experience of my entire career by a significant margin. Before I started at eBay, I had heard from friends that when eBay and PayPal separated, all the normal people went to PayPal while all the lunatics stayed behind at eBay. During my time there, I learned the hard way how true this was. I worked for an absolutely toxic manager who had no business managing other people. She still worked at eBay even though this was well-known around the company and she had a number of HR complaints against her. Not only was she grossly incompetent, she also was pitifully insecure, malicious and morally bankrupt. A manager who exhibits even one of these characteristics would already be difficult to work with. A manager who has all these qualities made for an experience that was horrific beyond comprehension. If you suggested a different approach on a project, rather than considering the merits of your suggestion, her first instinct would be to accuse you of questioning her expertise and undermining her authority. She also would do everything she can to try to destroy you. She once fired a teammate because he had the audacity to disagree with her in a meeting in front of management. She also was not above making up lies in order to make this happen. For me, the last straw came when she ordered me to do something illegal because she was mad at one of our business partners and wanted to get back at him. She also tried to set this up in such a way that I would be the fall guy if anyone found out. This experience was not unique to me. I had many colleagues who faced similar bullying, mistreatment and abuse and who left as a result. In my experience, the culture at eBay was toxic and pernicious across the board. On an interesting side note - the entire company also seems to have a huge chip on its shoulder. Employees delude themselves into thinking that eBay and Amazon are somehow competitors. (For anyone who does not know, Amazon left eBay in the dust years ago.) I do not know which is more worthless - the Kool-Aid eBay serves its employees or the crap that is sold in its marketplace.
