Pros
- The people I worked with were chill. - There's free food during shoots sometimes. - That's seriously it. LOL.
Cons
- No transparency. Good luck trying to get information about the well-being of the company from management. It'll be like a ship captain reassuring you things will be okay while everything's flooding. - Lies. Management will lie to you/bend the truth with you, clients, and everyone else in between. - Inexperience. Although the owners have been at this for a while now, they lack business etiquette, communication acumen, and creative perspective. They don't know what they're doing. - Poor communication. You'll try to understand *exactly* what it is that is being asked from you, but you'll inevitably end up with more questions than answers. - Terrible pay. You'll be working on a lot of accounts, depending on what your position is, but for what would normally pay X amount elsewhere, you'll receive half here. Maybe even less, but it's okay, because rent is cheap in Los Angeles. - No work/life balance. If you think you can leave this place behind and enjoy the rest of your day, you will not. You will be contacted at night, on the weekends, in the morning, on your mom's birthday, your niece's bat mitzvah, a road trip, whenever, wherever, 24/8, all the time. Always. Forever. - Zero care for quality work or branding strategy. This should probably matter for a creative agency, but nah. - "Everyone is replaceable." - Foodeez, 2017. Management will not care about you or your burnout. They strongly believe that LA is the city of dreamers and ANY employee can be immediately replaced by recent college graduates. They've said it themselves. - No integrity. They will find ways around honoring deals/partnerships. Get things in writing and even then, pay/deals will not be issued on time. - No organization. Many have come in and out of this company trying to create a semblance of a viable structure with overview, but all have failed. Don't even try. Go with the flow and try not to drown. (Bring floateez.) - It can be fun trying to decipher emails from management. This is a very backhanded pro, but a very solid con. - They'll ask for your suggestions on things in the guise of improving company culture and efficiency, but most, if not all, of your suggestions, thoughts, or opinions will fall on deaf ears. - You will be given tasks that don't fall under your job description, but they'll give it to you anyway, because they already told a client they'd do it. Don't be surprised if you enter for one job and come out with three. - Lastly, and this is perhaps my favorite con, you will hate working here. You won't dislike it, not mind it, or endure it. You will *hate* it. And the more you learn about what management has done to get the company to its current position, the more you'll hate working there. And the hatred will fester until you inevitably decide it's time to leave or you get let go. Either way, you'll be glad you left.
