My experience at ADI was, in a word, hellish. The technical documentation department is by far the most mismanaged and toxic place I have ever been employed. As an indicator, in the course of one year, five people were hired (to fill five vacancies left by editors that quit). Those new hires quit, and then another five people were hired. The department is made up of approximately ten editors. That’s right: half the department quit twice in less than a year.
Editors are expected to account for their time down to five minute increments, and are under constant scrutiny both from department managers and members of other departments. If management feels that an editor is mishandling their time, that editor will be literally screamed at, possibly even be threatened with termination. (Valid reasons that were cited for termination: taking an extra five minutes on lunch, having headphones in too often, greeting your coworkers in the morning.) These instances of being “reprimanded” are as erratic and unpredictable as the managers themselves, who will often disappear for days at a time without prior notice.
Upon being hired, you will be told that editors are held to a very high standard. What this means is that, during training, managers will make up standards and rules in order to prevent you from ever completing your “training” and which they will use to criticize every action you take. Every step of the process must be reviewed by a trainer, and trainers often contradict each other multiple times before ultimately throwing the editor-in-training under the bus. Editors are often kept in “training” (read: contractors without benefits) for YEARS. Any attempts at suggesting changes will be turned against you, and you will be accused of attempting to "undermine the department."
New editors are completely isolated from their peers because management tells more senior editors not to sit with new hires at lunch, presumably so that new hires can’t check if they’re the only ones being horribly mistreated. Managers make snide comments to editors not only about the performance of their peers, but will even outright mock the appearance of members of the department. It’s not unusual to hear an incredibly racist or transphobic remark thrown around, too.
I cannot stress enough how terrible this department is, and that you should never even consider a position here. You will be made to feel stupid and worthless at every turn, and held to impossible, constantly-changing standards. This department and its managers exploit and abuse employees unlike anywhere I have ever worked. To be a technical editor at ADI isn’t taking a job--it’s taking a spot in hell.
