Pros
- Benefits could be worse. - Initially there can be a good amount of autonomy to work directly with clients on interesting projects.
Cons
- No employee guidebook and no policies spelled out. If you're coming from somewhere corporate with a lot of red tape, this may not sound so bad, but in practice it's a nightmare. Each department is treated differently, and some appear to be granted more flexibility than others when it comes to time off, leaving early for appointments, dipping out for three-hour lunches, etc. It has created insurmountable resentment among the whole team. It is discouraged to work from home under any circumstance, including sickness, which routinely leads to sick people dragging themselves into the office and infecting the rest. Management will make fun of you for "being sick all the time" if you miss a couple of days due to illness. It's clear that the priority is productivity and the bottom line; never the employee's health or well being (which obviously impacts the bottom line when employees can't perform at their best, but nobody seems to put two and two together). If you need to leave for a family emergency or funeral, don't expect any understanding from top management (and don't expect any time off, because this is the only employer I've ever known that doesn't give bereavement days). - Management provides criticism that's destructive, not constructive. Even if you have a great direct supervisor, his or her hands will be tied when it comes to advocating for you. If you aren't on the short list of the management's current favorites, you're toast. No room for growth or promotion. The management technique at the top is to both publicly and privately criticize employees. It happens to everyone, so don't take it personally, and also try not to internalize it; chances are you're not an idiot or terrible at your job, but you're working in a place where people are torn down rather than built up. It can take its toll after a while. The exception is for new employees, who often enjoy a short honeymoon period where they are praised and celebrated for their work. This period is generally short-lived. - Some people in the agency like to harken back to the "Mad Men" days, and not in a good way. It's 2016, yet flagrant displays of sexism, racism and homophobia in the workplace are all too common. It extends beyond bad jokes and spills over into the way people are treated. Conservative politics are regularly and openly discussed. It's the only workplace I've known in which people have such little decorum when it came to how to behave in a professional environment--and again, it all starts at the top.