Altria Reviews in Richmond, VA Area

Pros

Great Pay Great Hours Great Experience

Cons

Tobacco Products Slow Moving Culture

Advice to Senior Management

Diversify Into Some Other Business To Motivate Your Employees

Pros

Stability and upward mobility, as well as above-average compensation

Cons

No innovation. Run by Sales and Finance minded persons

Pros

Great benefits, good salary, good infrastructure

Cons

Dying industry (no pun intended)

Advice to Senior Management

Be more transparent

Pros

Benefits are unmatched and you work with some very bright people.

Cons

As volume declines, they are constant layoffs and it is difficult to advance. They do, however, offer a generous severance package.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to branch out to different products that do not have a declining market that can be found in retail locations.

Pros

Benefits
Variety of Opportunities
Good Senior Management

Cons

Old fashioned
Conservative
International Opportunities limited

Advice to Senior Management

Open to new ideas

Pros

I would be surprised if there were a better brand management internship in the nation.

- Assigned highly challenging projects that impact the business
- First week of training is excellent for getting your feet wet in brand management
- The employees, especially ABMs, are very willing to guide you if you ask for it
- Fast paced work environment
- Opportunity to collaborate with cross-functional partners and advertising agency
- Great workplace culture with highly competent and fun people
- Exposure to senior leadership several times during the summer
- Given access to nearly all the data that the Brand Managers have
- Multiple opportunities to travel as an intern
- Altria makes sure that you enjoy your summer in Richmond (Y Richmond, Chicago Trip, Intern Finale, etc)
- The Consumer Engagement intern below that said the Brand interns are treated like royalty is right in the fact that the company invests the most into the brand internship

Cons

- The projects you are assigned define your experience for the summer, luck of the draw
- Rarely given "day-to-day" tasks that give you a feel for what the Brand Analyst role is really like
- They give a housing stipend but it will not cover your total expenses and it is still difficult to find housing
- You will probably feel like a complete idiot at some point during the summer because you will make a mistake, but that comes with giving MBA-level projects to undergrads. Not a con as much as it is part of the learning process
- The most important factor in getting an offer is your manager. I was surprised by some the people who did (and did not) get offers.

Pros

Pay & Benefits are exceptional
Career Development opportunities are plentiful
Office/ammenities are really nice
employees/co-workers and managers are very capable - above average
Integrity is important - very different than the industry is portrayed in the media

Cons

Tobacco Industry is tough to work in (competitive and unfairly taxed and portrayed in the public)
Compliance - Controls are over-the top
lots of process and procedure and rules - not a place that fosters creativity
Top level of leaders are not that impressive
Expected to "execute flawlessly", mistakes not tolerated

Advice to Senior Management

Don't make decisions that people below you could and should be making.
Don't expect creativity and speed - in a process dependent, complex, risk intolerant environment

Pros

The opportunities to travel And take on exciting project work are unparalleled in Brand management. It too bad their primary product is tobacco.

Cons

Slow, static corporate culture. Difficult to explain to future employers why you took a position with a tobacco company. Good pay.

Pros

As a summer intern they really take you out and show you all the ins and outs of the business. They have some of the greatest people in the work place. It is one of the best places to launch a career because of all the career advancements.

Cons

The only con is that ist is a tobacco company, ultimately, and you will probably get frowned upon by a few people everyday.

Advice to Senior Management

I think the internship was a great experience and I learned a great deal.

Pros

This is probably the best internship you could ask for. The pay is awesome. They even give you a stipend if you need to relocate AND give you advance pay the first week you work. The work is challenging but at least you are not getting coffee and filing papers. You get your own cubicle and lap top and the company pays for all the interns to go to all these fun events like wine tasting and go kart racing. You also get a free pack a cigarettes a day whether you smoke or not.

Cons

The brand interns are treated like royalty compared to the other interns.

Advice to Senior Management

Give more feedback to your interns. More than just a half way point and end point review.