Daversa Partners Reviews

If you are a person who needs work-life balance, this may not be the place for you. Daversa is a work-hard, play-hard environment but the play-hard portion often takes place with your colleagues (and involves a lot of drugs and alcohol). You are expected to be reachable 24/7… even when you’re on “vacation.” It’s a sales environment and the job is ultimately client services. You have to be willing to take calls late at night, on Saturdays and Sundays, on holidays, etc… some of this pressure comes from clients, but most of it will come from your partner. The casual work environment, constant involvement of alcohol/drugs at company events, and the lack of an HR department is the perfect recipe for sexual harassment, extramarital affairs, and fist fights. Partners get away with a lot because they’ll have lawyers to cover their tracks. Associates usually get a stern talking-to but have also been asked to leave. Beware of the mind games. They are a favorite among partners and the CEO and they will leave you in tears. Promotions, raises and bonuses are dangled in front of you and you’ll constantly be reminded how of “lucky” you are that you make six figures/have a Director title under the age of 30. The partners will give you enough rope to hang yourself (their words, not mine). If you work your butt off, drink the koolaid, and throw your colleagues under the bus every once in a while, you’ll get ahead and you’ll make a ton of money.

The culture is rotten from the inside out. I didn’t realize how bad it was at the time. My family told me I needed to quit and how abnormal and unprofessional the culture within the firm really was. It’s only now, almost exactly a year since I’ve left, that I realize how toxic Daversa is. When you are 22, fresh out of college and Daversa is your first job, you don’t realize this isn’t normal. It’s not normal to work weekends. It’s not normal to hear coworkers talk about the CEO as if he’s a God. It’s not normal to have partners of the firm text you and call you on weekends. It’s not normal to have panic attacks weekly. The amount of stress and pressure, the workload and expectations are comparable to that of an executive, all while being paid lower than your average entry level position in tech. By the time I left, nearly everyone in my starting class had quit too. If you would like more context on the culture or an example of what happens at Daversa, The Verge recently put out an article on the company that puts a bit more color on this.