AbelsonTaylor Reviews

Pros

AT is a great company to work for. The hours are reasonable, deadlines are manageable, ad there is a feeling of security that doesn't come along with most agencies.

Cons

You have to stay in the creative box you're given.

Pros

Great benefits, free snacks and drinks, safe rides home from late nights at the office

Cons

50+ hour days are the norm, and you can be forced to stay late at a last minute notice. No formal training offered upon employment either. You can tell a lot of employees are dissatisfied by the way they interact with one another, and personally I did not find it a welcoming community.

Advice to Senior Management

Offer more formal training and lower your expectations when no training is offered.

Pros

Free snacks and drinks

Nice looking office

Cons

Terrible work hours- no set lunch time, always "on call"
Work never ends at 5, usually a question mark as to when you will get to leave (6,7,8,9 PM or later)
Constantly running around and reminding adults to get their work done
Treated by higher ups as though you never made it past grade school; no respect
Promotions are random and not based on intelligence or hard work
All problems in agency are blamed on "traffic" department

Advice to Senior Management

Fire most of it. Get some good talent and reward it when it comes.

Pros

-Excellent snack selection
-The office space is very colorful and comfortable
-Dress code is relaxed
-Even if you're dumb, you can get ahead

Cons

-Incompetent supervision
-In the Traffic department, you will have about 40 people telling you what to do while you scramble around, work way too many hours, and have everyone get mad at you for not knowing anything about the projects, even though you have no hand in the actual content of the jobs
-Expect to have people irrationally become angered with you for not understanding things that you would have no reason to know in the first place
-If you are just out to make some money and don't mind being a corporate stooge, this is the place for you

Advice to Senior Management

I left AT because I was treated poorly. I worked very hard and still felt like no one appreciated my efforts. The senior management is out of touch with what life in the Traffic department is really like. I personally saw 4 people cry in this department while at work, and at least half of the Traffic department employees (account coordinators and traffic coordinators alike) at some point mentioned they had considered quitting the job, during my time there.
The management of the traffic department was poor. Advancements seemed arbitrary (based on a timeline without accounting for quality of work).
Working in the Traffic department, I was treated like garbage, despite working many more hours than advertised and really pouring extra effort into the job. The supervision was extremely aloof and I think many people in the agency are aware of this issue. Maybe some people on the bottom should be allowed to review their managers, instead of just grandfathering them and protecting dead weight in the company. A thorough investigation and review of the people in Traffic may reveal some startling results about how people on the low end of the totem pole are treated in this company. I, for one, entered with many positive ideas about AT and it's work enviornment, but this experience disappointed me.

Pros

Great opportunities to do rewarding work, at the forefront of healthcare industry design, works with the latest technologies, so you can do work you're proud of.

Cons

Account managers aren't always knowledgeable about design or the creative process, and you are unable to communicate with the client directly - so you are relying on someone who isn't always knowledgeable to tell you what the client wants, and communicate your design to the client. Its a disconnect that can make things difficult

Advice to Senior Management

Train the Traffic Coordinators and Account Managers in basic creative principles - and process, allow contact between creative and clients.

Pros

Above average benefits and free snacks
7 hour work day and plenty of time off
Great location in the loop and pretty cool office space
Good variety of work and a stable business

Cons

When the #1 thing people talk about is good benefits and free snacks, run the other way.
The 7 hour work day exists on paper only - there's no such thing as work/life balance.
Career advancement? Guaranteed... if you're in traffic. Elsewhere in the agency... your odds are better at the casino.
Experiencing highest turnover rate they've had in years - not a good sign of a company "doing well".
Morale is at an all-time low... and no one really seems to care.

Advice to Senior Management

Time to do some 360-reviews on your leadership throughout. They're not really as great as they keep telling you they are and your high turnover rate this year should be your first clue. Keep these people around too much longer and your workforce will be so "green" that you'll start winning eco-friendly awards instead of Manny's.

Pros

great people to work with and location is right in the center of downtown area of chicago so very convenient

Cons

not much room for advancement and smaller company compared to other competitors out in east coast. pay is reasonable but could be better.

Advice to Senior Management

overall management is doing a good job at the company. maybe provide more opportunities for growth and continuing education

Pros

Great location, beautiful building, excellent creative directors and awesome hours.

Cons

Much of the management staff of interactive and digital happened to be in the right time and right place when this agency decided to go digital. That only works for a while but now the company sorely needs to get more experienced and qualified staff in place if they want to build a solid department. There's too much nervous energy and fear among the team members and this is not a good foundation for long-term success.

Advice to Senior Management

Get new management in digital and pay closer attention to what team members have to say. Expect solid knowledge, not charm.

Pros

Has great benefits, including insurance, free drinks & food, and generally are very accepting of making time to be with family and for special case absences. A good number of people here really want to put good work out...

Cons

...but too many people would rather just get the job done and get it off of their plates, especially senior management.

For an agency, there are far too few new senior level people. They bring in very inexperienced people and teach them the "AT Way", which results in massive inbreeding. This leads to many senior managers only ever working at this one company. The problems roll down hill from there.

Advice to Senior Management

Clear out the upper ranks of people who don't want to change and bring in some fresh blood. Get a top level digital superstar to get this place into shape and into the 21st century.

Stop promoting traffic to be account people with little to no experience.

Pros

Promote from within quickly and consistently

Cons

Relatively little movement for creatives

Advice to Senior Management

Managers need training, not just promote from within