Acxiom Reviews

I worked at Acxiom for more than 10 years

Pros – Great technology, great work environment

Cons – need to improve worklife balance

Advice to Senior Management – continue to work on benifits and work life balance

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Acxiom

Pros – - Great starting salary.
- Great leaders - they are always open, listen to improvements, stick up for you, try not to over allocate your workload, let you know they appreciate it when you work overtime, and they get to know you personally. Your experience may vary but my interaction with leaders was excellent.
- Have access to the best tools in the industry. They have no problem purchasing specialized software (if you have a valid business case) to help you in your work.
- Generous vacation time - important as I enjoy travelling!
- Flexible work hours, very understanding of your schedule if you have personal or family issues.
- Work from home opportunity. Not everything can be done from home (certain servers can only be accessed on site, some meetings need to be attended in person) but the opportunity is there for your typical work day.
- Nice on-site cafeteria.
- Interesting work days, interesting projects - never the same task.
- Lots of great work experience.
- Stable job (see in cons below.)

Cons – - (continued from the pro above) I've heard of people being laid off on the spot - they have been called in for a last minute meeting, informed their position has been eliminated due to 'reorganization' - and escorted out of the building. I heard from other employees that you can guarantee your job security if you specialize on a language or technology that make you indispensable.
- I have heard raises are very uncommon - you stick with your starting salary. As a recent hire, I earn more than people that have been here for years and promoted many levels above me.
- The only people that seem to get recognition are sales people, not developers. (Much easier to put a value on a sales contract than the work a developer did.) But they are working to improve this. Some project managers will recognize if you go beyond the call of duty, and if reported to upper management, you can get a small bonus.
- Conway is a small town. I had a hard time adjusting. Not much to do here since I don't hunt. Very little street life, no entertainment facilities beyond a movie theater and an old bowling alley. It's a very suburban and sprawled town. There are apartments, but they're in the middle of nowhere - there's no accommodation downtown or near any retail facilities. I found it difficult to adjust.
- The campus is gated with a boom gate that's only accessible via car. I was raised in a city and don't drive. There are very few sidewalks around Conway, and in general, they don't connect anywhere.

Advice to Senior Management – Great job trying to improve recognition to non-sales people. Offer a shuttle service for employees that don't drive - Microsoft has been doing this for years. There is great talent around the country/world that would love a job like this, but Conway has very little appeal to non-country folk.

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

I have been working at Acxiom full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great data. The best in the industry.

Cons – Slow product roll outs. Focus on products that incorporate the base data set.

Advice to Senior Management – Sales roles should be hybrid rather than hunter farmer splits.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Acxiom full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Casual working environment, innovation, the people,

Cons – Acxiom is based in Arkansas which makes it hard.

Advice to Senior Management – Think outside the box

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Acxiom

Pros – Acxiom has a strong solution and high quality products.

Cons – The company seemed to initially thrive when Scott Howe took over, but beginning in FY13, new compensation packages were introduced which were definitely not sales friendly. Commissions were only paid out quarterly and only if you were at 100% of your number and then at the end of the year you were eligible for other bonuses depending on your group, etc. There have been several quality tenured employees that have left the company and they had a round of layoffs in February. You may need to buckle up for the ride.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Acxiom as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Flexible work environment. friendly people,

Cons – low salary and friendship-based promotion

I have been working at Acxiom full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Job Security, Salary

The job is challenging and can be rewarding at times. The people not in leadership roles are great; dedicated and hard-working.

Cons – Constant corporate backstabbing and revolving door make it incredibly difficult to build a career. Leadership is nearly impossible to contact and is a bit bull-headed about making the same repeating mistakes.

Nearly zero work/life balance. You will make less than minimum wage [hourly] your first two years.

Also, the most evil corporation in the world. Buying and selling of the most personal data to enable marketing solutions.

Advice to Senior Management – Look. Listen. Learn.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Acxiom

Pros – There are lots of good and knowledgeable folks at Acxiom who are a pleasure to work with. Also, the environment is very family friendly and there is a good work / life balance.

Cons – Pay is well below market average for positions. Company regularly lays off employees (and often rehires them) with no warning or apparent reason. This and the poor pay have created serious morale issues in the company.

Advancement is very slow and the best people are often not promoted because there is no one to backfill their current role. In my time at the company, many of the truly outstanding performers left the company for better pay and promotions at other companies. There is now a real shortage of skilled people and this has resulted in a constant environment of drama and firefighting.

Advice to Senior Management – Many managers have 25 or more direct reports. This is far too many to manage effectively and means that some folks slack-off and fly under the radar while others receive disproportionate attention.

A large number of Senior Managers at Acxiom have very limited experience outside of the company and would be completely unable to work at a similar level in any other company. They are often promoted due to connections or length of service and many have no real management skills. Acxiom should bring in new managers from external sources to raise the bar and bring in new ideas.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Acxiom full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Scott Howe's vision and excitement are fantastic. I love where he wants to take the company and the way he presents his vision.

Cons – I am afraid that the current C-Level suite can not execute Scott's vision. They are not working together as a Team and their disfunction ripples down through out the organization.

Advice to Senior Management – Come together as a Leadership team, one common goal and direction. Back up the lip service to reinsatating trust and employee morale.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Acxiom full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Flexibility of work schedule
Ample paid days off
Great teammates

Cons – Financial compensation growth is stagnant
Lots of internal politics and bureaucracy
No upwardly mobile career path
Yearly layoffs, frequent pay reductions, frequent benefit reductions

Advice to Senior Management – Acxiom needs a unified leadership team. Management footprint must be reduced. Politics and internal battles between the 3 primary organizations must end. Employees must be fairly compensated and all corporate cost reductions should not focus solely on the rank and file workforce.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend