Best experience of my career - Anonymous employee Ready Set Rocket Employee Review

5.0
May 21, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

RSR is a special place to work. You feel genuinely cared about as an employee both by your peers and from management. Everybody, without exception, is kind and nice. From the top down there's a focus on helping you develop your career and giving you opportunities to challenge yourself. They've gotten a lot better at providing feedback via weekly 1-1s and quarterly 360 reviews. When all the stars align (right client, right project, right team), the work is incredible. Great opportunities to work with world-class brands, doing work that has real strategic impact, with a brilliant team of people that knows how to produce quality. One of the few companies I know of who not only talk the talk about diversity but have a very balanced and diverse workforce in practice (close to 50% gender balance, women in senior leadership, good spread of ages/seniority, etc). Has the perks of a startup type environment (dogs, ping pong table, liquor cart, occasional catering) but people are also professionals who are there to get stuff done. The hours are decent. 40-45 hour weeks are the norm, as with any agency biz there's occasionally crunch times but it's recognized and rewarded. Cash compensation is above market. Benefits are solid (401k with % matching, unusual for companies this size). Company regularly competes with and wins against larger, more famous agencies - and your role in the projects will be larger. A lot of independence and autonomy is given to you, but there's support and guidance to help you manage it. Clear growth plans and tracks for promotion. Talented junior employees can jump up a few ranks in their careers here. This place won Crains/AdAge "Best Places to Work in NYC" awards two years running for a reason. It's a great place to work and I'd highly recommend RSR.

Cons

Client base lacks focus, the wide range of clients (from huge banks to smaller non-profits) makes for variety but also means that every project is radically different. You learn a lot, but often it's not applicable to any future projects. Office is really spacious and beautiful but there's hardly any private space for calls/meetings/quiet time. The phone booths are not soundproofed. "Unlimited" PTO policy is confusing and shifts the onus onto managers to approve/deny vacation. Some guidelines for expected usage or setting a mandatory minimum would be helpful (generally vacation policy is relaxed and generous though). As with all consulting work, the team is at the behest of clients and their business cycles. Some clients are wonderful, some are dysfunctional in some manner. Sometimes the projects that pay everyone's salaries are boring. Sometimes there's not enough work to do and then there's too much work. This is the same at any client-driven service business though.

Explore other reviews about Ready Set Rocket

5.0
Oct 6, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I've been in the agency world for my whole career in various roles/companies and never experienced an agency as nurturing and considerate as RSR. The company is run day-to-day by two badass ladies that started at the bottom and worked their way up to leadership roles. They've worked hard and earned their seat at the table and their ability to both dig into the weeds and add value at a 10k ft altitude shows just how sharp and dedicated they are. They value everyone's contributions and perspectives and really invest in employees' well-being, work-life balance, and career growth. The production team takes special care to manage and throttle employee workloads, set reasonable deadlines and set clear expectations internally and with clients. They strike a great balance of working smarter, not harder, and empower everyone to do the same. The team is small but mighty and chock full of a great mix of subject matter experts and jacks of all trades. Everyone really cares about putting out quality work and pushing each other to collaborate and elevate the end product. The pay is great, especially considering the solid work-life balance, benefits package, and remote opportunities RSR affords. You get the benefits of an NYC agency (salary and clientele) with the freedom of location autonomy and non-NYC rent (if you choose).

Cons

As with most agencies, there are some clients/projects that are exciting and interesting, and some that are more bread and butter to pay the bills. It comes with the territory, and management strives to give employees a balance of both to keep things interesting.

5.0
Nov 25, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Ready Set Rocket is probably the greatest place I've had the pleasure of working. Everyone is so kind and welcoming even if you are only to be there for a few months working on a few projects. I've personally never worked for a greater Creative Director. He's the kind of fellow that allows you to take full control of a project and let's you figure out the problems for yourself. If something doesn't quite work, he'll sit down with you to discuss options to create the best outcome. He certainly won't tell you the answers and he won't ridicule you needing an extra push sometimes. He's wondering in that he lets you figure out the problem yourself. The overall creative team is a helpful bunch and you can learn A LOT from them. The senior staff / founders of the company is a rare trio. They truly care about the world, their business, and their staff. I know saying they care about the world is a bit vague but they take the time to discuss current events and current issues that impact the world and figure out ways how they can make small changes within the company to lessen any negative impact there may be. They're a very empathetic bunch. I can keep going on and on about this place ... oh and the dogs! Oh my goodness, the doggies are almost therapeutic.

Cons

Sometimes the projects are bit lacking but I suppose that's how it is with every place. They have their big projects and the day - to - day ones that help pay the bills. Not really a con but something that should probably be pointed out.

1
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All