PointRoll Reviews in Philadelphia, PA Area

Pros

The people are the best reason to work at Pointroll. Everyone is very smart and hardworking and want to do a good job. the work is pretty cool and there are perks like free lunches and bonuses you can get for going above and beyond that are pretty high. COmpany seems to care more about employees than in the past and communication has gotten better.

Cons

there are changes right now with with jobs in technology with combining Shoplocal roles and changes with operations and project managers. Its the right move but some people are complaining. There can be a heavy workload but you learn a lot and if you do a good job get rewarded. communication is better but there can be more from my manager.

Advice to Senior Management

follow through

Pros

The people that work at PointRoll are unique and are the only reason that most non-sales, non-executives stay at PointRoll. The folks there are really great workers and support each other and those on other teams for the most part. The team is young and full of energy, ideas and fun.

Cons

Senior Management has no clue what they are doing!! They succeed inspite of themselves, the biggest problem is that Senior Management and the Sales team are driven by greed and will sell anyone down the river in order to make a buck. No one on the senior management team has "paid their dues" with PointRoll and therefore they take no accountability for killing the goose that laid the golden egg. They abuse the Account, Operations and Technology teams on a daily basis, all in the name of the client. The company is run with a staff that is only 3/4 the size it should be for the volume of business that is brought in, and the technology enhancements are never fully tested prior to major releases adding to headaches for the tech and ops teams. Look for PointRoll to start to lose market share to companies like FlashTalking etc... It will be nice to see what happens when the Senior Management and Sales team has to actually fight for sales, when this finally happens, look for PointRoll to disappear very quickly.

Advice to Senior Management

You all should be ashamed of yoursleves and how you treat your hard working employees and management team, you set everyone there up to fail while you all line your pockets with cash!! It is very sad that you people are as greedy as you are and that you will never fully appreciate that work that your team does on a daily basis.

Pros

Great people, great client list. It is nice to know that in this environment you aren't the only one dedicated to your job. Through hard work and knowing the other employees are working just as hard makes you feel it is worth it.

Cons

Lack of knowledge throughout the offices. Main offices makes changes monthly and doesn't inform remote offices. Decisions that are made don't don't seem to have a rhyme or reason.

Advice to Senior Management

Just because you are good at your current position doesn't mean you know how to manage people. Understand how to give guidance instead of firing them.

Pros

Some might say free meal but the lunches and bagels have turned really poor quality.
You can definitely measure how much BS you can take.
I am sure that there are plenty of worse jobs.

Cons

It's not in a great part of town, next to a sewage treatment plant and across the street from a shady strip club. The building is in poor upkeep with vermin, leaks and riddled with power and HVAC problems. No kidding about mice, rats, birds and mold run amuck in the building.
Senior management is greedy and terribly INCOMPETANT!
Lying runs rampant. A lot of blame and finger pointing.

Advice to Senior Management

You've already ruined a great thing; what are you trying to prove now? Give up and go away quietly. Make sure you get your whole face in front of the barrel.

Pros

Pros? Hmm.. this is a tough category. the only notable pro i can dig up is the freedom to work from home and a few decent co-workers.

Cons

There's a serious lack of competent management here. I still don't think anyone knows what certain departments do day to day nor take the time to care. Employees are taken advantage of and I'm still trying to figure out why new positions are created for worthy people while other hard workers are terminated. There's a serious misconception of this being a great place to work. There are Jr, Standard, Sr, and Team Leader positions in which there is aboslutely no difference amongst the various levels. As a Jr, you're still doing the work of a TL so really everyone there deserves that title. There's also an issue with lack of resources where f/t employees are expected to also be available after hours and the weekends. As though putting in 60 hours during the work week isn't enough.

Advice to Senior Management

Raise the white flag and surrender.

Pros

Amazing client roster. Touching the best creative made by advertising agencies all over the world has taught me a lot about rich media and advertising. Also, the people are great; a very diverse bunch, PointRoll employees tend to have a great sense of humor and a very fun employee culture when time permits.

Cons

I hate the fact that PointRoll acts like new people that they hire are saviors, all the while ignoring people who have been steady workhorses for years. How many times have they brought someone in with a senior title who turned out to be duds?

Advice to Senior Management

Make sure that our technology keeps up with our competitors. We cannot fall behind.

Pros

PointRoll has very smart and committed people, willing to work very hard to help the company succeed. There is a high level of innovation, both technologically and operationally.

Cons

The biggest problem is the low morale caused by management's disregard for employee's time away from work. There is pressure to work very long hours, and be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With the caliber of people PointRoll has (or used to have, that is), a high level of productivity could have been achieved without disenfranchising and burning out the workforce. There is also a focus on very short term gains at the cost of long term benefit. This is not a sustainable way to run an enterprise.

Advice to Senior Management

Give people the tools and time they need to succeed and don't expect a superhuman time commitment. Structure tactical milestones within a framework for overall strategic success, and communicate that strategy to all levels so everyone is focused and well coordinated.

Pros

There are great people at this company. It is an exciting space, with all the cutting edge technology and all. Plus we get to work with really awesome interactive creative agencies. Since the future of banner advertising is looking good, there is job security (sort of, see below).

Cons

Long hours and tight deadlines. I don't think the pay is a good as it should be. The expectations are very high, and people are getting fired or quitting because they think what is asked of them is crazy. Plus they are having layoffs now, which is shocking, even though the economy has started to break. It is stressful.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop the turnover. Hire more staff and pay them more money.

Pros

The product and overall client support are fantastic. The non-management personnel are first class.
Subsidized lunches are also a nice perk that most companies do not offer.

Cons

Extremely long hiring process. Extremely short firing process. Produce in a sales role in 4 months or you are gone.
Management at all levels is totally incompetent. Sales Management especially.
PointRoll has missed a golden opportunity to really dominate their market as they are continually making poor decisions as it relates to terminating their employees while giving no real guidance or feedback. Their formal learning path utilizing Element K is good on paper but lacks management support. Sink or swim should be their motto because the expectation is that you get it in the first 90 days or you are terminated.

Advice to Senior Management

Chris or Gannett Corporate should take a hard look at the cost of turnover as they seem to not understand the true cost of letting good people go.

Pros

The almighty Dollar, but only if your in Sales. You can learn a lot about Rich Media, the good the bad and the ugly.
There are a lot of really smart people that work here unfortunately not many are in management.

Cons

Poor Management, No work - life balance, Lack of Respect by management.
You are a number, remember that and you can survive if you want.

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing, They have already ruined a Great thing