So I worked at Specific Media quite a while ago.. before Glassdoor was ever really a useful tool for new recruits. With that said, I was reading some reviews today on Specific Media because an email alert came into my inbox about a new review that was posted. I figured I would see if anything had changed since I left...it didn't.
The review from Nov 19, 2015 from the Account Manager in NY inspired me to write my own version of the EXACT same story. Mind you, I was in the IRVINE office so this culture is permeating through their entire company.
To use his/her exact words. because I couldn't articulate it in another way and make it more clear:
"Working at Specific Media was one of the most stressful periods of my life. The company encourages absolutely no work/life balance. I was expected to be available 24 hours a day including holidays and weekends. The environment is extremely cliquey and the people who are promoted quickly are the ones who are favored by top management" < -- also I would add this: Those who are promoted up the ladder (not lateral promotions to other roles) are typically friends with the management team.
With regard to it being one of the most stressful periods of my life. I was in my early twenties, we're talking 21 / 22 / 23 at the time. My body was actually responding to the level of stress I was experience. My girlfriend (now wife) was noticing my behavior was different. My roommate / best friend hated that I was miserable all the time and didn't ever want to do anything. It was seriously awful.
During my time at Specific Media I moved from Ad Trafficker to Account Manager. They moved me along for two reasons. One was because I showed interest in it, and two was do to a position opening up do to churn... which really is no surprise. To illustrate one clear example of how they treat their employees let me explain how that transition happened. During the transition they moved from an hourly position to a salaried one. The management team tried to convince me that I would make bonuses every QUARTER (that's once every 3 months just to be clear) and therefore I shouldn't receive a pay increase despite being asked to essentially be available 24/7. This means that I would have to leave my hourly position where I made around 33,000 / year at the time without overtime, to a salaried position for the same wage and work longer hours more often for an opportunity to receive a bonus once every three months. Apparently they thought I was an idiot. I didn't accept the offer until the adjust my pay, and my reasons were clear. I explained that instead of taking the new position I could make that "bonus" money by working an extra 1 to 2 hours of overtime per week for three months and still have the luxury of not being "on call" 24/7... dumb dumb dumb.
Maybe they didn't think I was a good fit for their company and that's fine, it happens sometimes. But I'll tell you what... on my last day one of the senior managers said "oh wow I wish we could have found you a role that fit your passion" ... nicest thing anyone ever said to me while I was there. To bad it wasn't until the moment I walked out the door forever.
Anyway. I'll stop raining down negativity now, but thank you to that person who wrote their review November 19, 2015 it really inspired me to share my feelings too.
