Pros
It gives you an opportunity to live in Charleston which is an amazing city where jobs are very hard to come by.
Cons
After I left this place I worked w/someone who'd been at RM during 9/11. A close relative was an American Airlines flight attendant, they were panicked. Agency owners were furious employees we more concerned w/getting news updates, after a terrorist attack, than working. RM literally turned off the internet to get everyone back to work. Flashforward to when I was there. The only dog allowed in the agency was Josephine, David Rawle's dog. Employees were not permitted to cook ANYTHING in the microwave that smelled. (What doesn't smell when cooked in a microwave?) Popcorn, frozen TV dinners - nothing! David had a thing with smells. Employees were also not allowed to have any flowers, plants at their desk as people leave flowers in a vase long after they died & he didn't want to see that. Everything needed to be visually appealing to David. Employees not allowed to "personalize" their desk areas as is customary. Only the creative department in another building was permitted to dress casually, as in anything they wanted; ratty t-shirts, shorts & flip flops, while anyone in the main office was to be in business attire every day. Showing any creativity was not permitted. Lunch & learn agency meetings were a complete waste of time. I've worked at some of the most well respected ad agencies in the country on multi-million dollars campaigns for household names; info provided was always Advertising 101. It was during one of these meetings though that a former employee came in who was still good friends w/the owner. She relayed a "funny story" how the owner accidentally poisoned her. He & his wife were out of town, she was watching Josephine the dog. After a dog walk she wanted a snack, opened the frig, saw some tuna fish in a can and ate it. When David noticed the can gone, he asked her about it & she told him she ate it. David - laughing while he's telling this story in the conference room to entire staff - informed her the tuna fish was for the stray cats around his house & was laced w/rat poison. He feeds the stray cats rat poison as he doesn't want them around. Everyone just looked at each other mortified & seconds later continued their day like no big deal the owner poisons stray cats. A creative was a complete loose canon - either mad at the world or bi-polar. She was fired during a screaming matching (while the rest of us were jumping for joy) only to be begged & pleaded with to come back; the next day there she was. We had a long time client that was SO abusive, during a meeting at their office, they became enraged (typical) & literally lunged across the conference room table at me; did this in front of 1 co-worker & 1 senior level staff person. After the meeting, 3 of us discussed how this client appeared to be climbing across the table to hit me only to then have reality sink in & control them self. As a senior level staff person was there I told her this must stop, tell the president & owner, etc. We discussed it internally, my direct report encountered numerous screaming match phone calls w/this client, told me, "It's like dealing w/an abusive spouse" & yet nothing was ever done. We took on a questionable client who got into it w/president of agency & then he subsequently fired us. Client however called me & asked me to come work for him; offered me roughly 50% more than I was making. Salary was on the lower edge of competitive wages. Hours long. Don't think about coming in early before folks get there; even if you're in a 8AM, eat lunch at your desk; no one else shows up until 9 & considers you as leaving early if you're leaving at 5:30p. Mean girl high school mentality from women & men was beyond ridiculous. I've never met such an untalented group of petty idiots in my life. I was in the process of buying a house, & made the mistake of trying to befriend these people & shared w/them my plan to buy a new house. Long time employee remembered the address & even though she didn't live anywhere near it, she & her husband drove by the house I was in contract to buy & literally walked around the property, peaking in the windows. I know this because she then told me days later how the house has power line wires over it. President was still married to his 1st wife of 20 years. He had a fresh from college secretary who quickly got promoted to assistant account executive then account executive & is now his 2nd wife. I knew something was suspect while I was there: always lots of flirting between them. As for the work, it really speaks for itself. Anyone w/any real big city ad agency experience doesn't last long. No one has ever been to Cannes, won a Gold Pencil, CLIO or any real advertising award - sorry folks but local ADDY's are pathetic as are the people who work here and manage this place.