Waggener Edstrom Worldwide Reviews in Portland, OR Area

Pros

WE is a great place to start your career. You get to work on some top-notch PR accounts, while being mentored by some great people with increbily knowledge and experience. You have the opportunity to do some great things. The benefits are nice. The peopel of WE are the best. I honestly made some life-long friends while I was there.

Cons

One of the HUGE disadvantages of WE is the pay. It's low, and raises and promotions are handled with great secrecy. If you get promoted "off-cycle," you are not eligible for a raise come reviews, which to my disappointment, I found out in my very-positive review. While money is not everything, when you regularly work 50+ hours a week, and the occasional 60-80 (yes, I said 80) hour week, it's easy to realize that there are far better opportunities out there, and that other companies are willing to pay considerably higher.

The entry-level pay at WE is literally only a few hundred dollars above poverty level... Now that I've moved on from WE, to a job that pays quite a bit more, it's easy to look back at the work that lower-level employees (AC-AE) do, and wonder how they are not paid twice what they are. I don't think they realize how much the work. This is why so many lower-level employees bolt after a few years, and why there are so few AEs at the agency. The ACs and AAEs get fed up with their compensation and leave.

Unfortunately, there is no real cure for this. It's not like WE can just start paying everyone 15% more, but it is a big issue and talent is not being retained because of it.

I've also heard of a few managers who have "looked out" for themselves before their direct reports, while avoiding the tough questions about what happened and why things were done the way they were.

Advice to Senior Management

Be honest and upfront with your direct reports about EVERYTHING, even the tough questions. We work in PR, and can smell BS from a mile away. Practice what you preach, TRANSPARENCY.

Pros

work life balance. great benefits package. 16 hrs of volunteer hours for each employee

Cons

still a bit old school when it comes to PR

Pros

Waggener Edstrom is a great place to work for name recognition. People respect the agency because Microsoft has been a long-term client. You don't have to say much of anything else to get an interview/job offer when you have Waggener Edstrom or Microsoft on your resume. The salary and benefits are also not too bad.

Cons

The agency will make promises during the hiring process that it will not keep. Work life balance is a favorite buzz phrase and the more they're saying it the more it's not happening (they talk about it all of the time). I accepted a position that was much lower than my experience and skills would have indicated, but unfortunately I did not know anyone at the agency and did not realize that until I was already employed there. From there I experienced endless turnover in management (it appears they placed me on a team with low visibility which I would never have known from the outside looking in...and no one wanted to be on that team). The managers I had consistently took credit for my work, pretended my prior experience wasn't relevant (though it was agency work, it wasn't for Microsoft!), and generally did nothing to help advance me even though the clients liked me. Whenever I asked how I could get the coveted promotion I had been promised in a short period of time on the way in, I received vague responses, no responses, or even anger that I would have the nerve to ask. Another favorite manager tactic seemed to be failure to pass on pertinent client information (job security on their part I suspect), and then comments about the need to be more "strategic" (unfortunately when client information is hidden it is quite difficult to demonstrate your strategic planning skills). Many managers gave just enough information to do all of the tactical work and withheld the rest. I began to doubt myself after a couple of years in this environment, but when I moved on to another agency where I was the only client contact (and those above me had better things to do then hover and make my job more difficult), low and behold I remembered just how good I actually was...and got promoted very quickly. The lesson? The better you are at Waggener Edstrom the more of a threat you present. If you want to work there, go in at the bottom (you won't be a threat and you'll learn a lot) or management (you'll already be "one of them"), but stay away from the middle.

Advice to Senior Management

Sync up with your human resources team and find out what they are promising new hires. Remember high turnover is expensive (it might eventually effect your bonus!) and the turnover is higher when you mentally abuse your employees.

Pros

Expansive in-house research, digital and new media resources and expertise makes it a great place to learn on the cutting edge.

Cons

Welcome to the land of fife-doms. Fear of internal competition seriously dampens knowledge sharing. In a place where senior leadership is incredibly out of touch with the folks who are running the day to day business, it's easy to be overlooked.

Advice to Senior Management

Shed some of the long-timers who make little visible contribution. Encourage a culture of collaboration that will help all boats rise with the tide.

Pros

Provides insight into public relations work
Creative people are present
Company hires smart people
Fun atmosphere

Cons

Hiring promises do not meet actual work environment
Focus is often solely based on client satisfaction rather than actual public relations
Promotions and recognition more dependent on personal relationships rather than results
Hours limit ability for personal life

Advice to Senior Management

Start looking at the utilization of hours; it's not sustainable in the long-term
Realize who is doing a share of the work
Management present, leadership often absent
Cost of digital innovation is completely overpriced

Pros

Some key benefits (401k match, profit share) were cut this year, but I'm confident that decision did save jobs and we are seeing investments made in technology and leadership that will pay off down the road and hopefully bring these $$ benefits back.

Cons

Waggener is still a very difficult place to advance professionally. They worry so much about moving from one level to the next, that they never seem to consider the possibility of moving up two pay grades or two levels if your abilities and experience warrant it. They also talk a big game about balance by providing sabbaticals, 4 weeks of vacation, 16 hours of community service, but most employees and especially Sr. leadership don't take advantage of these.

Advice to Senior Management

Lead by example. Promote those that are the most valuable and take care of them. Cut the fat in the other areas.

Pros

You have exposure to serious PR with one of the most demanding clients in the world. Waggener has terrific capabilities on the cutting edge (digital, SEO, etc) and if you find the right manager and team, your possibilities can be really unlimited.

Cons

Silos, and a bad manager or a difficult client can stymie your opportunity for growth. Hard work is not as rewarded/recognized as highly visible work - so your team really dictates your growth potential. Despite alot of talk around collaboration, you'll be pressed to find it. I can't believe how difficult it is to find information that we should all be sharing.

Advice to Senior Management

Find a better way to recognize people beyond their manager, who may not have time.

Pros

The benfits are good including 4 weeks of leave and 4 months of maternity leave - unpaid. My job provides a lot of variety and challenge and feel as though I work in a very creative environment for the most part, where new ideas are supported and implementation of those ideas often encouraged. I feel as though you can achieve anything you want to achieve if you can find the time and can show how it would be beneficial to the company. The company is also independent which is a noce position to be in given the current economic climate.

Cons

Although I have progressed fairly quickly in the time that I have been with the company, I do feel as though opportunities for advancement are limited on my team and that I will need to wait for someone to leave before I can move up. I recognize though that this is often the case when you are with a company for a long time and sometimes you have to move out before you can move up. I also feel as though you are tasked with doing a job at a higher level for a while before you are recognized with a promotion to that level.

Advice to Senior Management

Sometimes it takes a long time to make a decision. Although I value a culture where a number of opinions are heard, there comes a point where you have to identify a decision maker and just move forward.

Pros

Flexible, open cube door leadership. Ability to try on many different hats. Chance to work on comms for a major Fortune 100 company. Independent which is especially important in times of economic trouble. Some unique benefits.

Cons

They knock you down a title level or two when you come in the door...many people with experience have observed this. This makes the promotion dance even harder than usual because you always feel as if you're two measures behind the music.

Advice to Senior Management

Get creative in the way you staff and structure your accounts. Keep that open dialogue going. Push out the leaders who are not keeping up their end of the bargain. To that end, start a better system for upward feedback. Don't forget about Pam Edstrom--she inspires us and should be more front and center.

Pros

Great benefits, smart people, proven methods for success on behalf of clients. Well-respected agency and it feels that way. Some very impressive, smart and kind people in leadership. Trying hard to figure out their role in Social Innovation.

Cons

Hard to get promoted, even when you do a good job. Great place to work at the Portland or Seattle offices, harder for those I knew in other regions. Company often puts client's interests before it's own.

Advice to Senior Management

You're doing a good job communicating with employees for the most part. People are proud to work with - but watch out for those who fall between the cracks.