How’s the work culture at masala path? They seem to be a cool bunch of people working hard on mostly tech. But is it really more than good marketing? Kya unke toothpaste mien namak hai?
Have heard that they're an up and coming firm, with a strong TMT and PE foundation. They seem to pay quite well and take good care of their employees, and have very strong Linkedin game.
the SAs run the whole firm with little to no role of partners in everyday management, seen some associates treated horribly because the SA doesn’t like him. They love to hire freshers but very difficult to retain people with experience. Attrition rate very high.
I was checking Linkedin and they seem to have fair bit of SAs. However, I'm not sure if the work culture has gotten better? Can someone please throw some light on this? I'm currently interviewing with them but the thread here doesn't show any promise.
If you are a lateral hire, you’d be better off elsewhere. There is no structure within teams and it’s worse if you have to work across teams. A1s with little to no real world experience will be trying to supervise your work because they have been there longer. Partners usually don’t care how the work is getting done or the quality of work or the structure within the firm. Communication at all levels is bad.
Please don't try. Rated it 1 star on xomato (unfortunately I couldn't rate lower). Too much oil in the food. They put up pictures on social media of taj food but when you receive gravy in plastic bags it is pathetic! It's sadak chap food.
Also the main chefs [...] are busy "getting customers". Neither do they have an idea of the quality of food served. The ones cooking food consider themselves "head chefs". People picking up plates may cook better. [...]
Better eat elsewhere if you don't want a bad stomach. Like xomato, the place shows you that you get 60% discount (cough.. Bonus).. But that is something you will never see. You don't know the actual cost. You end up paying more (with your life and career). Not to mention compensation for being tortured by wanna be chefs who are actually plate pickers and couldn't pick plates in taj, itc, oberoi are given chef jobs. People couldn't continue working or eating here for more than 6 months. Check xomato reviews (LinkedOut profiles) for proof. Even first timers quit in 6-8 months. If you can cook better than wanna be chefs, why pick up plates?
I have heard they pay decent money, so there should not be a problem in hiring sincere and hardworking associates.
If the situation is as bad as I am reading on LI, then the partners must be aware of it?
Why is the firm not doing anything to solve this? [...]
Maybe the firm is new, so these administrative issues are inherent in such firms and things will improve gradually? It's difficult to fire incompetent associates as the cost of replacemement is too high and if the firm is grwoing, they will need people to do the work, specially at A0-A2 level. I heard that they stopped hiring freshers as trainees and have revised their pay scale? So maybe things will get better over a few years.
Am I being naive or the partners really don't care as long as their shop is minting money?
terrible work culture. they keep hiring relentlessly because no one with merit will stay. salary figures are inflated. partners don't care what is happening with clients. their entire disputes team quit in 2022. Tier 1 in marketing - they spend much more in hiring PR teams to get the best rankings.
Haven’t gone through all the comments but here’s my opinion: Praveen is a pleasure to work with, if you get a chance to. Bombay office is divided into two teams I guess and both are very SA dominant. Your life will revolve around their timelines and moods. But people are nice and helpful. Salaries are great. And they keep increasing. Even without the bonus component which is variable, they are pretty good. If you’re looking to do core corporate - don’t do Bombay. There’s constant pressure, they value people who stick around longer (most don’t). If you get to a stage where you’ve spent around 4 years, your life will get comfortable. But it will also get monotonous and there will be a point where you’ll feel like you’re not learning anything new.
There is a reason people don't stick for long. Surviving four years in the office is a challenge. It is true that the firm is SA dominant and they are the ones who create the toxic firm culture. Partners do not care even if this is brought to their attention because the "SAs have been there long enough". A lot of the "opinions" and "advisory" are by people who have little to no experience of how to interpret laws and regulations - this is obvious since a majority of their hires are A0s and A1s and lateral hires do not stay for long.
I am no fan of SRL, but hey they didnt get any rising star award. The appreciation that A1s got was from their clients, the firm had no role to play. This was as surprising to the firm as it is to you. Srl allows you to interact with clients at an early stage, and theres no point in denying that, irrespective of the pros and cons of it.
Also the main chefs [...] are busy "getting customers". Neither do they have an idea of the quality of food served. The ones cooking food consider themselves "head chefs". People picking up plates may cook better. [...]
Better eat elsewhere if you don't want a bad stomach. Like xomato, the place shows you that you get 60% discount (cough.. Bonus).. But that is something you will never see. You don't know the actual cost. You end up paying more (with your life and career). Not to mention compensation for being tortured by wanna be chefs who are actually plate pickers and couldn't pick plates in taj, itc, oberoi are given chef jobs. People couldn't continue working or eating here for more than 6 months. Check xomato reviews (LinkedOut profiles) for proof. Even first timers quit in 6-8 months. If you can cook better than wanna be chefs, why pick up plates?
If the situation is as bad as I am reading on LI, then the partners must be aware of it?
Why is the firm not doing anything to solve this? [...]
Maybe the firm is new, so these administrative issues are inherent in such firms and things will improve gradually? It's difficult to fire incompetent associates as the cost of replacemement is too high and if the firm is grwoing, they will need people to do the work, specially at A0-A2 level. I heard that they stopped hiring freshers as trainees and have revised their pay scale? So maybe things will get better over a few years.
Am I being naive or the partners really don't care as long as their shop is minting money?