Marketing Agency

Last year, my previous company went through layoffs, so I spent about a year freelancing before joining a small marketing agency. I noticed several red flags during the interview, especially regarding organization and processes. Communication was mainly through social media, tasks were sent via chat, and there was no proper system for managing projects. I accepted the position as a mid-level designer because it was my first good offer and it was fully remote. The company is much more marketing-focused than design-focused, and the work itself was well below my skill level, so I saw it as something temporary while looking for a better opportunity. There was another designer who was on maternity leave, and I was essentially taking her place. However, she also handled a lot of marketing tasks, and from the work I saw, her design skills seemed quite limited. She was more of an all-rounder who did a bit of everything, which I think reflects how the company approaches design overall. I tried to raise concerns about unrealistic deadlines, weekend shifts, and not wanting to share my personal social media with colleagues, but I wasn’t really heard. My design suggestions were also mostly ignored, and I eventually realized that the overall design quality was quite low. I was let go after three months, with the explanation that I wasn’t a good fit for the team, even though I had already built friendly relationships with my colleagues. I also had a minor conflict with my manager’s right-hand person, so I suspect that played a role. After I left, I heard that a few things were said about me that weren’t true, which made the experience even worse. I also suspect the issue was partly financial, as I found out that a colleague who has less design experience but handles more marketing tasks earns about half of what I did. Overall, I regret spending those months there and, honestly, being unemployed again. What would you have done in my situation? And what do you think about small teams? I’ve only worked in small companies so far, but I’ve never experienced this level of chaos and lack of structure. It also feels like they simply don’t want to improve.