AKQA – “60 hour weeks plus weekends...the AKQA name gives your resume a great boost - but this is a REAL dead end job.”

Pros

VERY dedicated staff. Provides a fun atmosphere which is necessary given that this job is your entire life. Lots of free fresh fruit every week. Diverse staff. Opportunity to work on new business and participate in new business pitches. The Flash work is beyond reproach....better talent than I've seen elsewhere. People actively problem solve in every department to make the work great. This agency's name on your resume will open doors for you that had previously been closed - for that point alone it's worth giving your life to AKQA for 1-2 years, as it will make your resume work MUCH harder and get you better opportunities down the road. For creative talent - this is an investment that's "worth" it.....

Cons

Senior leadership should be much more experienced. You're expected at work by 9:30AM regardless of the fact that you left at 3AM the night before....and will be there until 3AM that day. You'll work around the clock, and weekend work is the usual. No one celebrates the wins....with all of the great achievement, they should take the time to highlight key players and stand-out individuals that make the achievements possible. Zero ramp-up or onboarding - this goes, hire, desk, sit, work....you'd better know what you're doing when you take this job. With rapid growth, the bar for new hiring is far lower than it had been. The workplace can be incredibly inappropriate despite the diversity. They work great talent into the ground, and then don't care enough to retain them and let them leave...the door revolves with great talent leaving and moderate replacements coming in. This is a dead end job.....if you're looking for a career at this shop, you should take the advice and go elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

With turnover of capable and experienced senior leadership, the bar should be equally high if not higher for those that are hired as replacements. Middle management is more experienced than senior leadership more times than should occur.....just because someone has been in the industry for X years, doesn't necessarily make them the best person for the job - the experience in many different forms of digital advertisement, on many different types of brands is what makes someone seasoned enough to lead full teams....without that, the senior leadership becomes a joke. Seriously, the butt of many jokes.

Choose wisely.