?What If! Reviews

I worked at ?What If! full-time for more than a year

Pros – ?What If! is a great place to work with an amazing culture and amazing work as well. Great Benefits.

Cons – Pay wasn’t great for New York but benefits made up for it.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at ?What If!

Pros – This review is generally for Support roles: Producer/Coordinator

Great benefits and amazingly talented (and mostly genuine) people. Excellent parties, vacation time (25 days), free food, beautiful building, open work environment. If you get on the right team, you'll have a fun time and develop useful skills for the future. There's a lot of eye candy.

All in all, its a good entry-level job, with amazing perks, but only stay for a short while - don't plan on developing your career there (unless you're an innovation consultant, but even then...).

Cons – Where to start...

Everything at What If is about how you look on the outside. If you don't constantly have a smile on your face, you're OUT. If you express frustration, even to HR, you're OUT. You show feelings of discontent to the wrong person, you're out. Many that I have spoken to in a support position is dissatisfied with their role, yet nothing is going to change because no one is allowed to voice their opinion. Those in the support role are in a state of fear for losing their jobs.

The company has used the recession to hire very talented, smart, fresh out of school/grad school people, misleading them into positions way below their qualifications, underpaying/under-appreciating/undervaluing them. There is no track for growth unless you come in as a Consultant ("Inventor"), which in that case is clear: Junior, Mid-level, Lead, Director. They refuse to promote anyone in a support role, even though (generally) all of those employees are well-suited for a more content-based, higher-level position. It's just that they don't acknowledge college-graduates have aspirations and don't wish organize their life around being a career admin. If you go in as a support person (Producer or Coordinator), beware that you will be stuck in that same role for as long as you are employed with What If. In the interview however you will be misled into thinking you can move up into whatever position you desire. (Just ask them how many Producers/Coordinators have been promoted to another role in all of What If NY's history: Research, Junior level, etc.) - it will be ZERO. Discontent is rampant throughout...
Morale is at an all-time low...

What If is a company that preaches to its clients: "You can build up anyone in your company, just develop a more transparent, open, encouraging environment." Well, model this yourself. Don't put your full trust in the People Team (HR, Recruiting) - they want you to think that it is okay to come to them when you have a problem. This is true, they do, but it is not to render solutions, it is to harshly evaluate and develop a superficial opinion about you.

The company has grown rapidly, doubling in size since last year, so financially, we're doing well, but it's not sustainable. There is no infrastructure to support this growth. Some Directors are underutilized, while others are way overworked. Business practices are misguided and solid foundations are just not there. Maybe this will develop over time, but not until Senior Management acknowledges the issue.

Besides the above question, ask the following in an interview:
1. What is your turn-over rate for Producers/Coordinators?
2. Why did the person before me leave?
3. Don't ever accept the first offer -it's shitty.
4. What position could I realistically grow into and how long would that take? or How long do you expect me to stay in this role?
5. What skill set would I gain from my role - concrete examples?
6. What percentage of the Producer role is packing suitcases and blu-tacking boards on walls?
7. How many hours does a Producer REALLY work? (it's not 9-6 as advertised)
8. Can I speak with a Producer/Coordinator solo?
9. Who has hiring/firing power over me?
10. How has the company culture changed within the past year? I understand there have been a good number of lay-offs/firings and hirings.

Don't get distracted by the great benefits or all the beautiful people.
Advice: If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. (cliche, yes)

Advice to Senior Management – You're building the pyramid upside down and if you don't Realize, it will soon topple over. Promote! You say you care about the people, then actually CARE about them! Stop hiring so many Directors until you can develop a structure to support them!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at ?What If!

Pros – Highly creative and based in sound business principles, everyday we are on the front lines of innovation. We have the privilege of escorting our clients into the future businesses they want to be.

Cons – Innovation is not for everyone. It is taxing and often frustrating work, and it often takes years to see market results.

Advice to Senior Management – We have to always, always stay focused on the people who are the heart of our offering. It is our collective talent for which we are hired, never any single process or point-of-view.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at ?What If!

Pros – Top notch clients and briefs, amazing culture, smart people, fun projects

Cons – If you don't fit into the culture, it's hard to be happy here, culture fit is everything

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at ?What If!

Pros – great projects, incredibly smart AND nice people (most of them) fantastic communications and knowledge sharing, the wiki on everything you need to know to be successful is the best ever

Cons – some partners drive the business incredibly hard-nosed and hard hitting, the company imploded from 350 to 150 employees and the aftermath still feels

Advice to Senior Management – Put people in place to run large teams that are actually good people managers, rather than the best practitioner with the best sales record

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at ?What If!

Pros – Great clients and interesting, challenging projects
Clever, refreshing approach & techniques
Down-to-earth, warm and up-beat culture
Approachable engaged management

Cons – A great company for the right person... but very tough for people who don't click

Advice to Senior Management – Embrace diversity - in terms of the professional backgrounds we recruit from and the consultant roles that we pull together to tackle complex projects.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at ?What If!

Pros – Privately owned, free spirits, hugely successful and wonderfully humane organisation that lives its values to the max. 17 years track record in helping major companies innovate all over the world. Plus has a Foundation to spread the skills of innovation to non for profit sector.

Cons – Can be all consuming and tiring! Plus since the company is not known for PR or marketing, it can get an external perception which is far from reality and be seen as all about brainstorming rather than making the big commercial changes.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep growing the company and spreading innovation further in the world.
Keep the focus on the values and the high quality of recruitment.
Don't sell the company!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend