DG FastChannel Reviews

Former Employee – worked at DG FastChannel full-time

Pros – - I was paid very well
- Had lots of flexibility in when I worked (was a manager)
- Had much latitude to impact the company aka what I thought was acted upon
- Was treated very well when laid off - pay out, amount of notice

Cons – - At least in HQ, there was minimal connection among employees.
- My manager and senior leaders were so consumed by acquisitions that they were not able to focus on growing the business otherwise. Senior leaders are working far more than 1 job due to multiple acquisition integrations simultaneously on top of their regular job.
- Very financially driven company - what Wall Street thinks is preeminent.
- Company needs to improve number of women in sr. mgt.

Advice to Senior Management – - You absolutely need to change the paid time off for first year employees. It's something like you accrue no time for the first 90 days, then accrue time to a lower max for the first year than you would have originally thought.
- Senior leaders need to have capacity to meet occasionally with those who work for them and approve their work to proceed.
- It would be interesting to explore creating one company to which senior leaders are committed rather than people focusing on what's good for their own careers.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at DG FastChannel full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Some of the best talent in the industry, focused on growth, good software products, maintains decent customer service in automated business model, heavyweight approach to business.

Cons – Company is composed largely of disparate acquisitions, innovation happens slower than acquisition, frequent reorganizations make it hard to focus on sustained inertia with products and projects, very few (if any) employees would say they love working here, never saw much advancement for most career paths.

Advice to Senior Management – You have world-class talent that festers in your quest to gobble up competition and expand. Focus on your best products and stop trying to be all things to all people. Spin off the products, offices and services you're unwilling to support at the highest levels.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at DG FastChannel full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great talent and fiercely committed team.

Cons – Management lacks consistent vision, which results in wasted talent. Management is deathly silent about what is going on or where it is heading.

Advice to Senior Management – Find a vision and stick with it for more than 90 days. Communicate to your employees.

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

Former Employee – worked at DG FastChannel

Pros – Easy work. Fellow processors are good people. Slow periods where you can surf the web. Good holiday parties.

Cons – Management suffers from nepotism. Pay is poor compared to others in same industry. You are given NO introductory knowledge of what is done there except for the basics of order processing. More than likely, you will not get promoted, no matter how good you are. As order processor, you will most likely be brought on through temp agency and kept there for a long period, making a significant amount less than full time OP hires. Anyone below management makes very poor pay. Promotions are tons more work with very little pay raise. Definitely a company that does not consider it's employees an asset. High turnover rate.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay better-Get competitive with others in your industry. Show your employees you appreciate them more. Let new employees know the ins and outs of what is done there. Promote those who deserve it, not those who just started working there. It lowers moral. Also, care about the moral of your workers.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at DG FastChannel

Pros – With some exceptions, vault employees are given space and time to work according to their own pace. Manager usually doesn't work within the vault/warehouse itself, proving workers to show off some level of responsibility. Environment can be hectic during the day, but is relaxed at night.

Cons – No opportunity for advancement. No vault employees have ever advanced in the company. Vault employees are used as scape goats for other peoples problems. No communication in the company.

Advice to Senior Management – Allow vault employees a chance to move up.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at DG FastChannel

Pros – Good place to gain exposure in the broadcast news and syndication industry. Plenty of opportunity to show your talents and strive to improve if self-driven and highly motivated. Good opportunity to work with many technologies including HD.

Cons – Not a coozy place to work. Not much culture. Compensation is a minimum until you reach a high level of management. Information is not freely shared. Poor investment in lower tier staff that does not promote organic growth in the work force due to lack of training programs. "External" hires tend to make more money than "internal" hires promoted to the same position. Poor benefits package.

Advice to Senior Management – Invest more in the employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at DG FastChannel full-time

Pros – If you're good at what you do and are great with clients, you'll form many professional relationships throughout your time there. They pay relatively well but slightly less than competing companies.

Cons – - Uneven workloads across client managers, and other departments. Some departments are so severly understaffed, end product is often times affected
- No career path or additional training. Once you're brought up to speed, "advancement" comes in the form of increased workload.
- Management doesn't address issues (and regularly rewards bad work ethic).
- Speaking up and trying to make changes is frowned upon.
- Favoritism, management will regularly talk about employees with other employees.
- It's normal for the client to be viewed as "the enemy" who is being "unreasonable" by internal employees throughout departments
- Terrible morale and extreme negativity
- Lack of management support on all levels: if you have a problem, management will not back you up - especially if the issue is client visible. Expect to be thrown under the bus.
- Bad work/life balance. Client managers are expected to take company laptop home every night and be on call 24 hours a day. Extreme amounts of emails (in the 800+/day range)

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

Former Employee – worked at DG FastChannel

Pros – Good place to work if you just want to pay your bills while pursuing something else. The people in the lower tier band together and are great people to work with. There is free coffee.

Cons – No room for advancement. All new hires are external and there is promise of internal growth but it hasn't happened. There is a hight burn out rate of low level employees and the management makes no effort to retain them. The only real feedback you receive is on any negative performance item.

Advice to Senior Management – Follow through with the promise of advancement. Don't assume your lowest end job is not a skilled position.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend