BLKJ Reviews

2.5

25% would recommend to a friend

(38 total reviews)

29% positive business outlook

BLKJ has an employee rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars, based on 38 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there.

Reviews by job title

38 reviews
1.0
8 Jun 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

• exposure to creative work / thinking • this is the place for you if you’d like to have your bar for a workplace lowered so much that any other workplace you encounter after blkj looks like paradise (even if they just offer u basic respect + common decency)

Cons

• no proper growth structure / training. kinda was just expected to do what i was told and perform even with little to no guidance • messy internal structure / resourcing • creatives (only referring to the ones i worked with) were undisciplined, unprofessional and uncollaborative. join blkj as a suit if you enjoy being a personal assistant (read: slave) to the creatives. during my time here, creatives showing up late to client meetings / not even showing up for internal meetings without giving a heads up and unreasonable requests were commonplace • company that does not respect your time (both during and outside of work) • depending on your portfolio, might end up doing churn work disclaimer: these are my experiences and i worked with a lean team. others might have completely different experiences

1.0
30 Aug 2025

A case study in mismanagement

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A few bright sparks manage to shine through the dysfunction, but they rarely last long. You’ll learn resilience here, though mostly by enduring mismanagement.

Cons

This place is now the poster child for wasted potential. The management operates with a condescending air, seemingly more interested in maintaining their own illusion of authority than in actually leading. Some staff hold lofty titles they haven’t earned, and it shows. They are painfully out of their depth. The titles are gifted, not deserved, which only breeds a culture where mediocrity gets mistaken for merit. A word of caution to anyone hiring from here, a thorough check is a must! Instead of empowering the teams with modern AI LLMs, which could drastically reduce dependence on incompetent strategists, suits and uninspired creatives, the company insists on clinging to outdated practices. And egos. The $$ burnt on seeded PR, glossy case films, and award-rigging has taken a toll on the agency's financials. So what looks like success on stage hides a crumbling business underneath. All the vanity projects have resulted in financial rot masked by trophies. While this isn't new for this industry, the sheer immaturity at how it's being handled here makes you feel if the management even has a clue on how to run an enterprise. Some of the "heads" indulge in plenty of grand talk, with very little output of substance. The "long-term loyalists" who should be driving progress are instead coasting, treating the agency like a padded landing zone where ambition goes to die.

1.0
29 Jul 2025

All sizzle, no steak.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are still a few who bring heart to the place. But heart alone doesn’t fix broken leadership.

Cons

While the agency projects success outwardly, internally it functions in a state of confusion and contradiction. And is a place where image consistently takes precedence over integrity and execution. There’s been a steady and troubling erosion of culture, capability, and integrity. While you can blame some of it on the fast-paced and ever-evolving advertising landscape, the issues here are deeper, structural failures, enabled and driven by those in the leadership. They consistently demonstrated an inability to guide the agency with clarity, maturity, or accountability. What should have been a space for ideas, debates, and rich work had instead become a culture dominated by defensiveness, gossip, and retaliation. Individuals with alternative viewpoints were not only dismissed, but in some cases deliberately sidelined or vilified. Rather than lead, senior figures across creative, strategy, and account management opted to surround themselves with those who would not challenge them. This created an echo chamber of affirmation and silence. A lot of the staff either left or emotionally disengaged, leaving behind roles that were filled by undertrained juniors; promoted without the support or mentorship required to succeed. It was sad to see them being set up to fail. The loss of institutional knowledge and the decline of quality in the day-to-day output was stark. Simultaneously, a small group of creatives, some of whom are overrated and unchecked continue to operate with inflated self-importance, enabled by the very absence of strong creative leadership. Briefs are often surface-level and lack the clarity or depth required to drive meaningful creative thinking. Despite the performative language and self-congratulatory tone and trophies, the actual starting point always fell short. And this led many to question whether some people’s presence and participation brought any tangible value. Mastering the art of appearing indispensable without contributing is a skill in itself. And surviving here is all about aligning with those in charge, talking over others, around others, and behind others. And rarely has anything to do with driving the work forward. There are one or maybe 2 lifers left here who probably run this circus while aligning with the management. Because they can’t afford to be found out. Compounding these issues is the agency’s culture of psychological fragility and gaslighting. A blame-first approach has replaced curiosity and collaboration. Employees are often left second-guessing their worth, not because of performance, but because of having to constantly walk on eggshells, strewn around by individuals out to get them. The same Individuals who projected inadequacy on others to mask their own shortcomings. Several staff began to doubt their value due to consistent undermining, exclusion from conversations, or deliberate erasure of their contributions. When this is done repeatedly and without consequence, it ceases to be negligence and becomes something far more damaging. The lack of accountability from the department leads made the whole environment hostile. The qualities you look for in seniors - inspiration, support, advice, mentorship - were all absent. Whether this was out of choice, character, or capability, will never be known. The business side struggled with operational inefficiencies and shrinking client confidence pointing to a company that is as culturally unstable as it is broken. All of this continues to remain unchecked as the management runs the place like their pet project and not a professional agency.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 38 Reviews

Glassdoor has 49 BLKJ reviews submitted anonymously by BLKJ employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if BLKJ is right for you.