T3 Reviews

Pros

The people and the location

Cons

Some people slip through the net employment-wise

Advice to Senior Management

Put down the guns

Pros

Decent work/life balance, big name clients, new office (sometimes miss the houses), those that do the actual work are some of the hardest working people I've ever worked with, really appreciate the extra time over Christmas to put my family before clients

Cons

It's not what it used to be, even in the post-glory days. All work, no perks. Dogs are gone, no profit sharing, no bonuses, below average benefits, rumors that the bring your baby to work program will be gone soon as well, no culture (a bowl of candy every Friday is not culture). Owners rarely come around anymore, and as a result many notice a growing good 'ol boy network in the agency. We work so hard - nights, weekends, holidays. We come in early, work our tails off, and then leave late at night.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire people (especially managers/directors) who can walk the talk. Agency is overly siloed, and there is a growing resentment between the departments. Everyone is burned out and jaded... please give us a reason to be excited to come to work in the morning! We want to love this company.

Pros

Can't think of anything good about working at this place.

Cons

Upper management doesn't really care about the employees, it's all about the money. They don't look out for you or help you when needed. HR does a pathetic job at communicating and looking out for employees.

Pros

Candy Friday, variety of client work, stick around long enough and you might get promoted since they promote from within. Company news is more transparent than most companies. C level management has been known to call impromptu company meetings to communicate important news either good or bad.

Cons

Projects are usually vastly under scoped for time rather than building in assumptions that allow for extended timelines if certain milestones are not met on time. For example if design runs long because the client is not able to agree upon a direction, it should not shorten the time alloted for subsequent tasks that require a certain amount of time to complete. Frequently the next task in line has a shorter timeline rather than the end delivery date being moved. Thus at the end of the line time to complete has become drastically reduced causing round the clock work.

In addition, nontechnical employees have been known to decide upon a technology without consultation with the technical team. This has caused these projects to fail because the wrong technology was chosen and in the contract with the client.

Advice to Senior Management

Pick two of these, done right, done fast, done inexpensively. Please occasionally pick 'done right' over one of the others so we do not always have to redo things done incorrectly and so we get the chance at being proud of our work.

Pros

Flexible working hours and good team spirit.

Cons

Lack of growth opportunities within the organisation.

Advice to Senior Management

Doing a good job.

Pros

Cool office, you can take your dogs to work (or your baby), some truly exceptional, intelligent people, and a decent client list (when they've got 'em)

Cons

High turnover rate in management, poor communication across teams, lack of a stellar UI/UX department, exceptionally "hipster" and trendy atmosphere

Advice to Senior Management

I wouldn't spend such ridiculous sums of money on my annual birthday party.

Pros

collaboration with peers of many different disciplines; smart people; internet technology early adopters; great location; fun social events; dog friendly

Cons

stripped down to a minimum number of employees due to economy and client advertising dollars cut; not much encouragement to seek advancement or new duties.

Advice to Senior Management

when you think about how tough every business has had it, you have to credit t3 leadership with staying afloat and serving clients with reduced staff.

Pros

For a traditional advertising agency, I'm sure it was fine.

Cons

If you're looking for a place that really understands UX design, usability, and the process of developing well-done new media T3 is not the agency for you. I was hired for a position that no one understood and which I had to constantly explain--not an atmosphere you want to walk into. When they hired another person to do the same work I did, I found out about it by reading it in the daily company newsletter--I wasn't asked, consulted, or even told they were interviewing, much less invited to participate in the interview process. I've never been treated that way anywhere I've worked previously.

Also, I was hired by one manager (who was awesome in that he was a creative and technical genius) but he was never around and gave me no feedback.

Advice to Senior Management

Before you hire someone for a new position, make sure everyone in the agency understands what that role is and how to use it. Don't make the hiree go around constantly validating and explaining his role and worth to the people he has to work with. When the new hire tells you he doesn't have enough work to do, listen to him and take him seriously. Hiring ANOTHER PERSON TO DO THE EXACT SAME JOB when the first person doesn't have enough to do is just stupid.

Pros

The best reason to work at T3 is how relaxed the atmosphere is. Nobody is going to publicly dress you down or scold you. Each person is treated as an adult and nobody really gives you the "Add Value or Get the F Out the Way" attitude. Good work is almost always recognized and noticed, though not necessarily applauded. The agency, in general, will do everything it can to make sure its employees are happy in coming to work every day. It's an small advertising agency, so the perks are great. And not to be forgotten, dogs are allowed in the office.

Cons

Though there are not any Glaring downsides of working at T3, there are some. The biggest, from a male's point of view, is that the office predominantly women. Working with women means having to deal with last night's reality tv news, some drama, and gossip. Aside from that, the day before major holidays (thanksgiving, christmas, etc) we do get out early; but "Getting Out Early" means that we get out at 3:00 provided that all work is done and the supervisors give the okay... and we don't find out about this until noon the day of. The building is also a minor pain to deal with... the temperature is always, always drastically fluctuating. It's either ridiculously hot or freezing cold.

Advice to Senior Management

My only advice to Sr. Mgt would to be a bit more hands on throughout processes... not just during "fire drills".

Pros

Great people. Great client list. Dog Friendly. Baby Friendly. T3 has hit a few bumps over the last year, but it's still one of the top agencies to work for in austin, if not the country.

Cons

Campus sometimes leads to a fragmented infrastructure. Blurring of lines between Project management and account management -- account team needs to be more focused on relationship building and strategy and less on execution.

Advice to Senior Management

More training for mid-level management. Training helps enables higher retention for talented people.