Anyone work/worked for Pocket Kings??

billymitchell

Have a phone interview with them this week. I presume it wont be very stressful in comparison to the rest of the interview process. I'll brush up a little on my old poker skillz, hopefully that comes in useful at some stage.
Seems to be a bit of a mixed bag of reports on what it is like to work for them.
I suppose it would depend on which department you are working in. Sure i'll see how I get on Thursday and if it goes well, I'll call back here and see if i can get any more feedback on what its like to work for them

mccarte2

Had a phone interview last week with them and a face to face interview yesterday with them. To most of the people who have complained on here about revolving doors / prisons / incompetent bosses etc. What type of jobs have these been that you worked in? Are they technical roles or others?

Is anyone on here still working for them and do they have any comments to make?

dario28

An agency sent them my cv for a job which was a carbon copy of my cv - heard back about 2 weeks later thier HR said that my cv didnt suit the role , i couldnt believe it , so I changed my name to irish and sent my cv though a different agency , got a phone interview , did grand but thats all I heard..at the time they were phoning over 50 people a week , really strange hiring process

Their restaurant menu looks class though !

Narraaja

I have applied Customer Service Agent (lingual) role, but haven't heard of PocketKings anything yet. How soon they are usually contacting to applicants?

And what kind of interviews is for that position? Currently I'm living abroad, but hopefully I'm able to move back to Dublin ASAP (second time ).

If someone is working there, and could help with this, please PM.

_Kaiser_

Just stumbled across this thread after a Google search...

I've applied for a job with them through one of the agencies and so far they seem pretty keen, but the comments in this thread are a bit worrying.

Is anyone who posted here actually (still) working for them, and if so in what departments? My experience so far seems a bit mixed - yes they seem keen but the money on offer seems a fair bit more than the average, yet their screening process seems basic?

Any feedback much appreciated!

Stench Blossoms

My CV was passed onto them through a recruitment agency.

The recruiter was an absolute nightmare to deal with.

I was assured I didn't need any poker knowledge prior to the interview but from what I've read online thats a basic requirement.

junipernet

Hi,

I have been working in PocketKings for the last 8 months. I went through an agency to get my role there too.

I had a mixed hiring experience as the first agency got no where and after 1 month a second agency had me an interview in 2 days. Then after getting an offer (whole process took less than 2 weeks) the first agency demanded that they got the fee as they had sent in the cv first , even though they hadn't got me an interview (I don't know what they actually did do). You can apply directly if you want on their site.

I find PK a fine place to work, there are times when it's very busy, when they release new software for example, and times when they are less busy. This is common in most companies I have worked in.

Some of the managers are promoted within but there are plenty of very good hired in managers and directors that really know what they are doing and I have always found them approachable

PK is still like a startup and are still a very young company so they can be less organized than more established and mature companies, but I like the startup feel, and the focus on moving quickly.

The pay is good and the benefits are very good (free food, gym and other google-like benefits). The christmas party and summer parties are Amazing, nothing else like them in this country that I've seen, seriously beats them all.

It's a big enough place with several hundred employees, so my view is limited to my area (IT and software engineering which is 200+ people).

oh yeah, I don't play or know how to play poker (well) but some departments will want poker experience , especially if you are dealing with poker players.

shoegirl

daigo75 wrote: »

I know only one person working there, and he told me it's quite stressful. He's working on average 10-12 hours a day, and many times he works from home in the evening (after the normal working hours). It's only one opinion, though, so I cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy of what I've been told.

That kinds fits with the image of "tossers" working there.

In my experience in a place full of "tossers" it means about 30% of the staff are sitting around going on about how amazing and wonderful they are while another 30% are doing their work for them plus their own. It generally means in about 2 or 3 years time somebody externally will start asking questions and looking at whats going on, timesheets etc, and start realising that nearly half the staff are unproductive, and shut the place down, leaving nobody at all.

Hate to say it, but seen at least 2 places close due to having lots of "passengers" on board whose work was being done by their colleagues at they sat back and swanned themselves.

mccarte2

shoegirl wrote: »

That kinds fits with the image of "tossers" working there.

In my experience in a place full of "tossers" it means about 30% of the staff are sitting around going on about how amazing and wonderful they are while another 30% are doing their work for them plus their own. It generally means in about 2 or 3 years time somebody externally will start asking questions and looking at whats going on, timesheets etc, and start realising that nearly half the staff are unproductive, and shut the place down, leaving nobody at all.

Hate to say it, but seen at least 2 places close due to having lots of "passengers" on board whose work was being done by their colleagues at they sat back and swanned themselves.

Are you a fan of sweeping generalisations by any chance?

seamus

mccarte2 wrote: »

Are you a fan of sweeping generalisations by any chance?

To be fair, the entire company has mixed reviews. I guess it depends on where you're working and at what level.

From what I've heard (I know someone who works in QA there), they pay you well because they expect you to put the company first and foremost before everything - family, friends, social life, whatever. If the company need you to stay back and work 14 hours tonight, well then you can either cancel what you had planned or you'll be out of a job.
This is offset by big salaries, huge benefits and Xmas parties involving trips to New York with fully paid hotel and bar.

That would work well for single people, but for people who have other priorities, probably not so much. You couldn't pay me enough to put work before family.

Apparently politics are an issue too - if a manager doesn't like you or needs to find someone to blame their own screw-ups on, then you'll be in the firing line and dropped from their payroll without so much as a second glance. I'm sure they have a "disciplinary procedure", but by all accounts they don't use it and just fire people for the slightest of things.
This is why they seem to be constantly hiring.

mtsachev

Someone mentioned that their hiring process was very basic. I'd think that this explains high turnovers.

I don't really understand why but many companies have very basic interviews that many people would pass w/o too much trouble. Only a few would have more demanding interviews that really screen out people.

LindaMary

Does anyone have any recent experience with PK?
I've applied for a job but it's been a month and my cv is still 'under review'

MIN2511

tbh i'll give up now if i was you... If they wanted you, they would have contacted you already...

Lux23

An agency sent my CV in for a role and they called me the next day, I went for the interview and I quickly realised the job that was advertised is not what the girl interviewing me was talking about. I don't think I will bother going back for a second interview.

Gobby75

Hi folks

Some very negative comments there about Pocket Kings - anyone have any good experiences of working with them? Have they improved at all in the last year? A lot of those comments were in 2009 so I'm just wondering if maybe they've become a bit more organised and the door is revolving less? Particulalry interested in experience of working for Marketing in there.

Thanks

G

Pittens

Someone mentioned that their hiring process was very basic. I'd think that this explains high turnovers.

I don't really understand why but many companies have very basic interviews that many people would pass w/o too much trouble. Only a few would have more demanding interviews that really screen out people.

They had a 4 round interview - meeting about 10 people in total when I applied a few years ago. Not basic.

starbucks1!

Hi,

I also have an interview there next week for one of the support departments. Has their salary decreased because of the economic climate and are all their benefits still in place??

What is the atmosphere like now, still disorganised?

Is there parking?

Thanks

El Camino

Hi all,

Another recent updates on developments within Pocket Kings. I've an upcoming interview for a role in legal/compliance area. I've been told it's a new role but based upon the reviews in this thread they're probably lying and simply worked the previous person to the bone...

Any experiences on this side of the house within PK?

Thanks in advance...

PKWORK

according to him it's very stressfull, and all you do is copy past existing templates.
If you work nights there is no food.
The team leaders have no idea what they do.
There are a lot of other things wrong there but that will be a new thread he plans to create.

tHE vAGGABOND

according to him it's very stressfull

Its a successful company, one of the world leaders in their field. So working for one of the world leaders in any field of work will often be stressful. If it was all cool and relaxed, sitting around playing table tennis all day, I would think they would not be as successful as they are

according to him it's very stressfull, and all you do is copy past existing templates.
If you work nights there is no food.
The team leaders have no idea what they do.

It does sound like he is speaking about one specific team, working in customer service on the night shift.

Pocket Kings is a huge company now, employing a lot of people, over many teams, in many different disciplines. So just because one person [in this case] has one bad experience with one specific team does not mean an entire company is the same to be honest.

If you have a fast paced company employing many hundreds of people, some people are indeed not going to like it, and leave here and there. But on the other side, others will really like it, and will have worked there for years, enjoy the challenging environment and not dream of leaving.

Mr. Loverman

In fairness vaggabond I've heard from quite a few people (who work there) that it is an unpleasant place to work. But I agree with your sentiment that it depends which team you work for, etc.

mccarte2

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

In fairness vaggabond I've heard from quite a few people (who work there) that it is an unpleasant place to work. But I agree with your sentiment that it depends which team you work for, etc.

In fairness Loverman, most people who will have said that have probably moved on from the place with a bitter taste in their mouth. There's 2 sides to every story and while PK is a tough place to work the benefits are good and it's a great industry. The wages are above average and you'll get to see a lot more than in other places. With good, there's also bad but show me a job you'll never had that in. My team has people who've been there for 3, 4 and even 5 years.

Dave!

Just bumping this...

Meeting with an agency on Monday about putting my CV forward for a position with PK.

The job is in the "Security and Game Integrity – Operations division".

Any more current feedback on them as a company? This thread does not make for pleasant reading... Beggars can't be choosers, so if they offer me a job I'm taking it!

Interview process sounds intense

tHE vAGGABOND

Bear in mind Dave, that its people with negative experiences [or have "a mate" with a bad experience, be they telling the truth or not, or indeed speaking about the same people or team!] post in threads like these..

The silent majority, as Mccarte2 says, "My team has people who've been there for 3, 4 and even 5 years." dont normally post in these threads

Dave!

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

Bear in mind Dave, that its people with negative experiences [or have "a mate" with a bad experience, be they telling the truth or not, or indeed speaking about the same people or team!] post in threads like these..

The silent majority, as Mccarte2 says, "My team has people who've been there for 3, 4 and even 5 years." dont normally post in these threads

Well it'd be great if they would

Just saw from another thread that you work/ed for PK, any words of wisdom?

The position is Affiliate Security Analyst, looks really interesting (monitoring affiliate fraud), and I've done a bit of similar work. I've only got 7 months' experience since finishing college, so I'm looking for entry level stuff.

Cheers lad...

TheDoc

necro thread of sorts

Got a call from a recruitment agency today offering me an interview with Pocket Kings.

IT Analyst I think. The money being offered, packages and benefits are alot better then where I am at the moment, although its a bit journey. I'm ten minutes from my current place, but working low level technical support with no real career progression

Plus they are throwing an extra 10k salary at me off the bat, excluding all the eprks and benefits.

Told em to set me up for an interview, see what the story is

Alot of the negeative things im reading here is second and third hand information and I dont know what to take from it. I guess you cant tell until your there.

Dave!

I didn't have any joy with the Security Analyst gig... No feedback from the agency (that agency is useless anyway), they're just not progressing with my application.

Oh well

Other balls in the air at the mo

tekkenman

TheDoc wrote: »

necro thread of sorts

Got a call from a recruitment agency today offering me an interview with Pocket Kings.

IT Analyst I think. The money being offered, packages and benefits are alot better then where I am at the moment, although its a bit journey. I'm ten minutes from my current place, but working low level technical support with no real career progression

Plus they are throwing an extra 10k salary at me off the bat, excluding all the eprks and benefits.

Told em to set me up for an interview, see what the story is

Alot of the negeative things im reading here is second and third hand information and I dont know what to take from it. I guess you cant tell until your there.

hi, do you mind tell me how much they are paying for the IT Security Analyst? i am insterested in that role but the agency told me she doesnt know the salary, thanks

El Camino

TheDoc wrote: »

necro thread of sorts

Got a call from a recruitment agency today offering me an interview with Pocket Kings.

IT Analyst I think. The money being offered, packages and benefits are alot better then where I am at the moment, although its a bit journey. I'm ten minutes from my current place, but working low level technical support with no real career progression

Plus they are throwing an extra 10k salary at me off the bat, excluding all the eprks and benefits.

Told em to set me up for an interview, see what the story is

Alot of the negeative things im reading here is second and third hand information and I dont know what to take from it. I guess you cant tell until your there.

Don't let the negative comments put you off.

parkers77

Hello,

Has anyone any experience working for them? Are they busy all night?What are the tests looks like?

Looking forward to hear any details.
Par