Christie's Reviews

Pros

Overall people are nice and pleasant to work with. The environment is comfortable and not high strung at all.

Cons

In some departments there is a lack of community feeling and high employee turnover. Some of the employees are under-qualified and show no respect to the upper-management people, especially some of the administrators.

Advice to Senior Management

Regular assessment of employees is needed.

Pros

Free access to museums.
Fast-paced work in the art world.
Interaction with highly experienced individuals in various art-related careers.
Well-known throughout cultural institutions.

Cons

Very long hours with little to no compensation.
Very set hierarchies within the company.
With so many interns at their disposal, it was very easy for managers to confuse who is who.

Advice to Senior Management

Offer at least some compensation to interns and make sure that everyone has an exit interview. Also, HR was very tough to contact sometimes and would not respond to emails in a timely manner.

Pros

high prestige
some interesting colleagues
the joy of seeing beautiful things every day at work (if you disregard the politics)

Cons

the management is absolutely a mess
lots of politics
depressing work environment (at least in my department) - heard others are better

Advice to Senior Management

the management needs more transparency

Pros

– Access and proximity to world class art (usually from private collections)
– Constantly learning about art from all different countries, periods and movements
– Insights into the art market
– Lots of resources available, since its a large International company
– Busy times are mostly seasonal following important auctions scheduled in spring and fall
– Not sure if this is still doable, but many senior managers have worked up from entry level positions after several years (over 15)

Cons

– Typical corporate bureaucracy
– Very hierarchical structure
– Design by committee
– For a company targeted towards the luxury market, some of the decision makers have very questionable taste
– Specialists from the Post-War and Contemporary Art department has most of the power, and what they say goes, despite whether its contrary to recommendations or common sense
– Decisions are made to please egos, instead of being made objectively
– Disorganized marketing, there is often little time between acquiring consignments and promoting artwork, so there is inevitably a lot of rushing and last minute edits
– Very fast paced, very long hours during high season
– I have been micro-managed to death. This obviously depends on different departments
– Lots of big egos and attitude (even among support staff)

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize the ideas and contributions of your support staff. There are a lot of important business relationships that are integral to the success of Christie's, but it would all fall apart without a very dedicated staff to execute the huge volume of work that goes into each auction.

Pros

Had a wonderful time working for such prominent individuals in the art world, and felt included within the fold. Delightful place to intern!

Cons

No pay as an intern.

Pros

Great environment composed of people from different backgrounds and education which enhance the overall experience and allow for company growth using a wider variety of committed professionals

Cons

Each department has a tendency to believe that they work for themselves rather then for a larger entity. Inter-departmental communication is quite difficult at times and respect is sometimes forgotten.

Advice to Senior Management

Christie's is a great company overall. The company could progress in a more effective and positive way if politics could be put on the back burner for a while.The art departments have to begin to respect operations and see them as a partner rather then just a support group made of lesser people. Respect goes a long way.!

Pros

Work with extremely passionate and inspiring colleagues
At all levels and in all departments, people are energised and committed
Close knit, collegial atmosphere - respect for each other's specialties (especially in London)

Cons

High expectations, very high standards
Fast paced and demanding schedule
Can be difficult to move up or even sideways
Specialists who bring in business will be excused of 'bad behaviour'

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to communicate strategy

Pros

beautiful art
some very nice clients
colleagues with interesting backgrounds and areas of interest

Cons

low salary, as high demand for those positions
very few positions available

Advice to Senior Management

increase salaries, share more of the revenue/commission with junior staff to help incentivize employees

Pros

Amazing staff and personnel
Great meeting opportunities
Flexible scheduale
Very prestigious company
Great communication worldwide
Opportunity to gain more responsabilities

Cons

Very difficult to obtain a job here

Advice to Senior Management

OFFER MORE JOBS!!!

Pros

- great brand cache, huge interest and respect from the outside
- interesting and rare objects, art and other collectibles come through
- great place to learn if fields fall within your areas of interest
- excitement at auctions

Cons

- brand too arrogant to respect its employees, takes people for granted, especially support functions
- incompetent management, secretive
- living on past glory, panicking in new competitive environment
- silos create negative morale
- no work-life balance, in fact, no life!

Advice to Senior Management

What a pity because the brand inexplicably enjoys such respect and interest externally. Advice is to for the management to start acting on what employees of all levels say, rather than just going through the motions. Try to take risks and act quickly instead of doing numerous studies and having countless meetings. The industry is growing very quickly but it's quite apparent that the leaders in the company can't agree on what to do and where to go. Perhaps it's too top-heavy because people never leave. On a working level, too much is taken for granted of the working staff and some really unsavory behavior is tolerated because of the lack of candidates with similar expertise. Rather uncharitable and stingy for a company that moves in the uppermost eschelons of society.