Aquent Reviews

Pros

management, supervisors, pms are great, helpful, respectful
nice location to commute
try to maximize pay
usually a good mix of leadership at the local level and good backing at the HQ level
Recruiters are great, really try to get you hired and most of them have a lot of experience which is important
They're trying hard to increase share in non-Microsoft markets

Cons

As a contractor/consultant, they seem to be pretty tightly focused: if you're a content person (editor, writer) you could have lots of opps - technical side, not so hot. Seem to be slow to understand Microsoft's changing contractor strategy.
They're still trying to increase share in non-Microsoft markets

Advice to Senior Management

Seattle office rocks, I'm talking to you Boston (HQ) The contracting strategies need to change, and FAST, in order for Aquent to be competitive especially with Microsoft business. If not, you're going to lose significant ground.

Pros

Aquent is a innovative, collaborative company that values employee input. The culture is a younger, hip crowd who demands work/life balance.

Cons

The company is consistently trying to re-inventing itself. Recently, it's had a hard trying to carve out a niche to set itself apart.

Pros

Great work/life balance, benefits, investment in your development, good managers, partnership with management, advancement opportunities,

Cons

Aquent has a lot of change, but it's because they aren't afraid to take risk and fail. Failure is not a bad thing in Aquent's culture. It's okay to fail as long as you learn and move forward for the better. So if you don't mind A LOT of change then join the team and stay a while! Just remember, be flexible!

Advice to Senior Management

Keep changing!

Pros

Innovative
Solely focused on creative staffing
Unlimited vacation

Cons

High turnover
Continuious changes and not fully communicated by upper management
Employee must go along with new changes or most likely be let-go

Advice to Senior Management

Need to better communicate MAJOR changes to rest of the company

Pros

Excellent place to work - very holistic atmosphere, managers are very supportive and work/life balance is outstanding.

Cons

The Benefit package is OK.

Advice to Senior Management

N/A

Pros

Please note: I worked for the Seattle branch of Aquent.

According to feedback from other contractors at Microsoft, Aquent apparently has a good health benefits package. They are also easy to work with, treat their employees well, and look out for you and genuinely care about your well being.

Cons

While Aquent might be great, the jobs they place you in are luck of the draw. Depending on the position, they can be boring or tedious. Microsoft also treats contractors differently than their full time employees (FTEs). It's almost like you're a second-class citizen. Contracting is a great way to get your foot in the door, and opens up possibilities of getting hired as a FTE, but there is not really a way to "move up" as a contractor.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep treating your employees well - it makes a difference!

Pros

Flexibility, because you are a contractor.

Cons

You are a contractor, and treated as such.

Pros

- comparable benefits package to full time employment
- great a placing in larger companies
- rewards are nice
- quick contact with your rep

Cons

- less opportunity for placement outside of certain Redmond-based companies

Pros

Have to be a contractor before getting a full time job.

Cons

They take like 1/3 of your salary!

Pros

As a company Aquent was generally good at offering work/life balance. There was no specific vacation policy. They promote continuous learning, so ongoing training was common and it can be a good place for some to grow professionally, to a point. They try to be innovative and strive to be the best in the field.

Cons

Management. They could never seem to come up with a strategy and stick with it. Just when you were getting used to something, they would abruptly flip things upside down, so you always had to be prepared for big changes at all times. There were also some bad decisions made when promoting from within, which happened often.

Advice to Senior Management

Come up with a strategy and stick with it. Consider the impact it has on your employees.