GSD&M Reviews

I worked at GSD&M full-time for more than a year

Pros – Young fun crowd, happy hour focused, great well known clients, resume builder.

Cons – Little autonomy, petty issues, mostly all women so sometimes quite a bit of catty-ness. Lots of high school drama...which was often funny and added to the humor.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at GSD&M full-time

Pros – Fun events, parites and concerts on premise. For the most part, people have a good work/life balance compared to other agencies I've worked at. Austin is pretty great too.

Cons – Really difficult to move up, and if you do, they rarely give raises with promotions. You see a lot of great people quitting that haven't gotten raises in 5 years, and then GSDM will hire a new person at a higher salary to fill their spot. That's pretty frustrating.

Advice to Senior Management – Show your employees you value them.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at GSD&M as an intern for less than a year

Pros – I was a media planning intern during the summer of 2012. I've had internships at different advertising and marketing agencies before and GSD&M was by far the best. It was not a typical "go-for" internship, but I was actually doing work valuable to the team. I learned how to use various software such as Centrix and many of the Neilson products. I'd definitely recommend an internship here.

Cons – During the summer interns were only allowed to work 20 hours a week. Plus pay was minimum, so you didn't really make too much money.

– I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at GSD&M full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – They really care about their people.
They are passionate about the work.
Great clients.
Don't put up with people or clients being disrespectful. to their employees.
'Freedom and Responsibility" are core values they take seriously leading to a very entrepreneurial environment.
The founders are wonderful people, and have set the tone for the great culture.

Cons – They do not seem to have grown over the last few years from a financial perspective, leading to less competitive compensation packages.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at GSD&M full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great people. The client roster is growing and getting more interesting in recent years. Bringing on younger, more relevant creative talent to compete in today's marketplace. If you are just starting your career, they are a good agency to "cut your teeth on" given process and IdeaU opportunities.

Cons – Leadership is seriously lacking. Duff is out of touch with the talent within the walls and is too buried in financials to recognize the stars. They have been hemorrhaging good people over the last few years. Folks that lived, breathed and contributed to the culture -- and could get anywhere from 20-50% higher pay elsewhere in Austin, or anywhere else in the country easily. Account Management is horrendously broken. Lots of client drones that don't fight for good work. The entire department needs to be overhauled, and get a leader that can inspire everyone from the dinosaur GADs to the fresh AAEs.

Advice to Senior Management – Have a vision, not a budget forecast. Inspire, don't use scare tactics. Trim the fat, reward the rising stars. Being "on the same page" should be more than a checklist. Get Roy and Judy back involved; the heart and soul of the agency left with them.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at GSD&M full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – freedom and responsibility, curiousity, winning

Cons – grew too fast in my opinion

I worked at GSD&M full-time for less than a year

Pros – GSD&M has had some good accounts and good names. Working at GSD&M will get you a GREAT, solid foundation for the next steps in your advertising career. You will work, you will learn, and you will be productive. I am glad to have earned valuable experience at such a reputable company, but...

Cons – People are NOT happy at GSD&M. I don't see people smiling, ever. When I interviewed other place and people actually talked to me in the elevator, I had no idea what to do. The only words I can use to describe the culture are "cold" and "unnurturing." It's truly everybody for themselves.

They are also losing accounts. Mastercard. AT&T. BMW. Southwest just announced they were opening their creative for RFP. It's not looking bright with only one big win over the past year.

On my particular team, advice was given by bringing your errors back to your intelligence level. I can name several times that interns or entry-level employees were aggressively addressed for even the smallest of mistakes due to miscommunication, where a simple correction would have been just as productive and resulted in less self-depreciation.

An intense hierarchy... the assistants go through the planners, who go through the senior planners, who go through the supervisors, who go through the directors before anything can get done. Archaic, almost.

They pay the lowest salaries in Austin for the industry, and rather than promoting within, they seek outside of the company.

I wouldn't recommend entry-level people work at GSD&M, but it could be better for those who are entering the company at a more senior level.

Advice to Senior Management – Smile. Be humble. Nurture your team. The people that work there are excited to work with you because of your good history.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at GSD&M

Pros – The atmosphere at GSD&M is electric, everyone is happy, working hard, laughing. The office is full of 400+ type A, sarcastic types. Everyone knows how to have a good laugh and enjoy themselves, but they also work their butts off to provide the best work for clients.

Cons – I've worked there for a while now but I haven't gotten much feedback about the possibility of being hired. From what I know, the salaries for junior level positions are some of the lowest in the industry, as well, and promotions/raises haven't been given for a long time.

Advice to Senior Management – Compensate your employees a little bit better!!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at GSD&M

Pros – GSD&M produces good creative for their clients and that is a huge point of pride in the agency. They have a good solid infrastructure that supports the agency, and they know how to throw a good party.

Cons – Like many other ad agencies, their work-life balance leaves something to be desired. They were very slow to experiment with the digital space and it feels like they are still playing catch up. For many long-term employees salary freezes have been in place for the last 4-5 years.

Advice to Senior Management – They need a good executive creative director -- someone who can creatively lead the agency and make them competitive in the market.

I have been working at GSD&M

Pros – GSD&M has a great location across from Whole Foods and near the bar scene on West 6th St.
Great parties thrown on a monthly basis.
Big name brands to work on. If you're dissatisfied with the brand you work on, you can request to be transferred.
Lots of great people work here.

Cons – Interview process is completely unstructured leading to the hiring of subpar employees.
GSD&M hasn't given raises since they lost AT&T in 2008.
From my experience, GSD&M doesn't reward employees properly. Your boss needs to have a good relationship with upper management in order for you to receive a promotion.

Advice to Senior Management – Proactively speak to upper level management about what young people deserve to be spotlighted and rewarded via promotion or raise. So many talented individuals are leaving the company, and with the unstructured and extremely basic interview process, GSD&M isn't adequately filling these roles by any means. GSD&M seems to have a blind faith that the agency will continue to prosper regardless of who leaves the agency, but that is the wrong attitude to have. It leads to lower employee morale, and a watered down talent pool at the agency.