Razorfish Reviews

Pros

Smart people - the best in the industry
Always ahead of the rest of the industry in digital
Smart management

Cons

Low career advancement
focused only on digital
culture shifting towards more revenue as opposed to free thinking that made the company earlier

Advice to Senior Management

encourage free thinking among the employees
encourage competition among employees
host strategy luncheons
provide rotation across disciplines
more lunches and talks

Pros

Razorfish has a great client roster and produces work that is highly respected in the industry. Having this company on your resume opens doors and is a great stepping stone. Every account I worked on was staffed with extremely intelligent individuals with diverse backgrounds who were dedicated to the success of the client brand(s) and/or line(s) of business. Depending on your role and the client, there is always exciting and innovative work to be done and project ownership is encouraged. Within each discipline in the company (media, search, and analytics, etc.) there are open lines of communication between everyone; from entry-level to VP. The benefits and perks are comparable to most agencies but there are more company holidays than you'll find at other agencies. Razorfish does a great job of sharing internal information about the company, explaining changes, instilling pride, and providing a perspective on where the company fits within the larger Publicis network. Other random pros include the Starbucks coffee machines and endless buffet of leftover vendor lunches.

Cons

The number of meetings is probably the number one downside to working at Razorfish. There are meetings for everything. Anything that is communicated through email or phone is also accompanied by a meeting. While meetings are a way of life in the agency world, at Razorfish they often consume your entire day making it difficult to complete work and predict accurate timelines. Big egos often lengthen meeting times or spur another meeting. So, autonomous work often occurs after five o'clock and on weekends. There is no rest of the weary at this company. Even though working at home is a given, leaving anytime before 7pm is frowned upon depending on who your manager is. Because of this, compensation is not comparable to other agencies.

Another con at this agency is the lack of communication and cooperation between disciplines. The old Avenue A media buying groups rarely communicate with the creative and web design teams. The company might be called Razorfish but for all intents and purposes it is still two companies operating under one roof.

Management is another lackluster 'idea' at Razorfish. Aside from group VP's, some employees find themselves reporting into people who are either their age (even below) or who have the same title. This often leads to awkwardess, communication problems, unusual management techniques, and personality conflicts. On top of that, they are the ones that evaluate your job performance so even though they perform the same tasks that you do, they also tell you what to do and if your making mistakes.. Others report into the group upper management which is industry standard. Watch out for "rockstars." They are notoriously abhored by other employees and lauded by VP's. If you have an idea, "rockstars" will discard them so if you have to work with one just do what they do until you find an opportunity to escape. Never ever correct the mistakes you notice that were made by a "rockstar."

In addition, group happy hours are not mandatory but you have to attend them. This doublespeak must be decoded or employees will find themselves without a clique. Office politics play a huge role in your future at the company. You have to be "in" to succeed at this company so practice your drinking and networking skills before you decide if this company is right for you. This on top of the workload and meetings and you start to see the picture; Razorfish is your life. If you try to have a personal life that doesn't involve Razorfish you will fail. If you think something fishy is going on it's not the fishtank. Desks often get cleaned out without a word about where that employee went. Departures are a weekly occurance. They often found something better, fell victim to the "rockstar," or fell asleep at Croton.

Advice to Senior Management

Group VP's, please re-evaluate the reporting structure. You should be the only ones who employees report into.

Pros

Very talented workers, being with this company you will grow as a developer.

I love the free Starbucks coffee, and most of the other staff are very sweet!'

You can grow career wise.

Cons

Sometimes you need to deal with unreasonable clients and/or unreasonable project managers. Of course, that just follows from the industry.

They have a reputation to be held, and at times staying until 3am/weekends is expected.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't abuse employees that are working for close to nothing.

Pros

Razorfish is a great place to gain experience in the Online Marketing industry. There is room to move around in the different disciplines and management is supportive of that.

Cons

Promotions can take long and can be solely based on tenure. Sometimes they promote folks internally to manager status based on need rather than qualification. Promotions can also be secretive.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop holding meetings for EVERYTHING.

Pros

Positive and fair leadership, get to work with fantastic talented people.

Cons

Difficult balancing life work challenges when working in professional services.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep striving for excellence in delivery while pushing for lean processes.

Pros

brilliant people
great opportunities for growth
innovative work

Cons

long hours and hard to find time to take off

Advice to Senior Management

continue to treat the employees well

Pros

Razorfish is a great company at which to build experience. The company is very highly respected and does some of the most innovative web development work in the industry, not to mention houses a breadth of high profile clients which provide ample project work to build a resume or portfolio.

Cons

The main downside of working at Razorfish is the company culture. Management prides itself on offering a work/life balance, but often sets unreasonable deadlines for employees and expects them met without regard to their employee's actual free time. An average day consists of 5-8 hours of meetings, most of which are unnecessary and impede progress on actual work. Also watch out for doublespeak by management such as "optional" meetings that are mandatory. My favorite so far has been "mandatory fun" in which we are forced to leave the office and play games with our co-workers, regardless of whether there is revenue-generating work that needs to be done.

Pay at Razorfish is also not on par with the rest of the industry, and promotions seem to be based more on politics than actual results. In summation, Razorfish is a great company to use as a stepping stone in ones career, but unless you are a yes-man and enjoy corporate politics, it is not the best place to work.

Advice to Senior Management

Razorfish is a bloated organization that has become too bureaucratic, and as a result, has lost the nimbleness that made it an industry powerhouse in the early-mid 2000's. Management should cut down on meeting waste and micromanagement, and focus on the bottom line.

Pros

Great Benefits.
Smart co-workers
Good potential to grow

Cons

Long hours and endless projects

Advice to Senior Management

Your employees are the heart and soul of your company. Treat them well

Pros

Fantastic culture, great benefits, solid salaries

Cons

competitive almost vicious under current.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more sensitive to learning curves

Pros

Culture is great, lot's of energy. People are very smart and innovative. Work is interesting and it is exciting to see where the company is going.

Cons

Constant change which confuses employees. Management changes which creates a little unrest. Not a clear direction on where the company is going.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate with the employees about the direction of the company. Focus on the people as well as the work that is done.