Ruder Finn Reviews

Pros

Nice people, smart leaders, interesting work

Cons

Low pay, slow advancement in certain groups

Pros

Ruder Finn attracts very smart, creative people to work for the company. Clients are first-rate. Management is accessible and supportive. Althought it is a large firm (and growing globally) with significant resources, the New York office environment can feel like a boutique firm where you have a deep focus on a small number of clients. You can't help but succeed in this kind of environment.

Cons

The downsides are that -- like most PR agencies -- staff is overworked. For some groups the workload is constant and heavy, which can put a signfiicant drain on the entire account team. Turnover has been high in some groups as a result. There has been in-infighting (some of which has been very public) among the family that owns the firm, but it should be resolved now that the company is splitting. The appearance of the office space is old and rundown, and it doesn't feel like a dynamic, contemporary work place -- which it should.

Pros

Management's sink-or-swim approach to junior staff means only the best survive
Great clients across many industries
Large agency with a boutique feel

Cons

Family owners fighting led to company split
Management is absentee on accounts, leaving all work to junior staff
60-70 hour work week is common
Promotions are few
Salary continues to be lowest in the industry
Office is in disrepair, making it embarrassing to host clients

Advice to Senior Management

A recruiter once told me how they love poaching young employees from Ruder Finn. They said Ruder Finn has the best junior staff because they do the work of VPs. The recruiter also said how easy it is to attract Ruder Finn employees, because other PR agencies pay 50-100% more salary. Management knows this, but chooses to ignore these facts. Clients are catching on.

Pros

High profile clients - Willingness to let junior staff become involved in every aspect of the accounts, thus resulting in more personal career experience

Cons

There's essentially no work/life balance and there's poor communication between junior staff and management - very overworked for very little pay.

Advice to Senior Management

The 12-14 hour days would be more welcomed if compensation was greater and work among teams were more evenly spread.

Pros

- Great people
- GREAT boss
- Good work/life balance
- Can get busy but you're encouraged to take breaks and chat with neighbors
- Lots of perks like free lunches and happy hours

Cons

- pay sucks
- always striving for new business (such is the agency life)
- people in different positions work different amounts so that can lead to some resentment

Advice to Senior Management

I really appreciate the management at RFI and wish that more companies had a boss like SS.

Pros

Attracts young employees which makes it a fun place to work. You will get direct interaction with clients which is rare at larger agencies. CEO's are engaged and interested in what the account teams are up to.

Cons

Senior managers. Many of them don't know the clients business but will "fake it until they make it" while the junior staff gets hammered with the work, making the managers look good in front of the client. They say "want" the employees to be happy but won't do what it takes to make them happy. Good place to start, but they don't value or respect the junior staff.

Advice to Senior Management

Your agency is only as good as your senior employees. One or two bad apples in the bunch creates an environment filled with workers who are not equipped with the knowledge or tools to service clients effectively. It also creates resentment and prevents junior staff from learning and refining necessary skills to move up.

Pros

location
accounts
creative team
work life balance
friendly people

Cons

management
no strong tech leadership
no direction

Advice to Senior Management

bring in some strong tech leadership

Pros

Great roster of clients
Talented co-workers
Good reputation - recognizable name
Decent salary and benefits package
HR is responsive and supportive

Cons

Employees treated poorly by management
Lack of consistency throughout the firm on how practices are run
Constant rumors and general shadiness

Advice to Senior Management

Try to retain talent more actively; There appears to be high turnover and growing dissatisfaction. Also - think about updating the office interior.

Pros

smarter than average colleagues
good clients
good creative resources
long term employees

Cons

company never communicates with employees
closed doors and rumors the norm
no real leadership
non existant recruiting

Advice to Senior Management

Most of us stay at Ruder Finn because we really like our colleagues. But we work really long hours dedicating ourselves to our clients and our teams the least management can do is communicate with us whats going on, and bring us new people when we need them. Ruder Finn has so much potential its a shame management cant sort out some of the basics

Pros

Good opportunity to grow your career. Executive training program is unique. Also, management rewards you quickly and gives you a lot of responsibility and opportunity.

Cons

Lack of internal communication. Account work can be a bit boring.

Advice to Senior Management

Would benefit from offering more growth opportunities. Also, would be helpful if junior staff had better training on how to manage.