Havas Media Reviews

Cons

Need more staffing to support teams

Cons

-Bullying environment from upper level staff. I had the absolute worst experience with my supervisor who was demeaning, lied to me and others without batting an eye, was lazy, unorganized, never took fault for their own mistakes instead threw others under the bus.
-Chaotic and unorganized processes.
-No training, you just get thrown right in. Heard from many others that starting here was absolutely miserable for them for that reason as well.
-Anxiety and stress inducing from all of the above.
-Work life balance.

Cons

Upper management makes major changes without consulting those actually doing the work. No clear career path for those working on client finance side.

Cons

40 hour minimum and maximum

Cons

Salary is not aligned according to performance and workload
Workload between planners is not good: some planners work a lot some don't really work at all

Cons

-More training opportunities are needed

Cons

- Bunch of headless chickens running around
- Lot of attitude
- Completely disorganized (embarrassing for any company)
- High turnover
- Outdated tech systems (we use IBM as our mail client for crying out loud and forget trying to work from home)

I have had the misfortune of working at Havas. First of all, everyone is a psychotic mess. One month in and you will already see the chaos in this office. Team leads will be yelling at you for anything at any hour of the day. Even while their team messes up on everything. The ego here is astounding but that's what gets you promoted along with a big mouth. Anyone who is in leadership has gotten there by talking 90% of the time and using the other 10% getting drunk. I question if any of them have actually done any of the real work that lower level people do. There is an irrational level of stress because leadership has a warped sense of expectation and demand too much because it's so difficult for them to say "no" to the clients.

You should expect to work overtime and be ripped apart for any mistake you do. Everyone will throw you under the bus; the mantra here is "cover your..." (that's what leadership tells us every week) so that you can avoid such a situation. Not sure how Havas is a cesspool of idiots but that's what it is so join the company at your own peril. They pay decent but that's because they know they're a terrible agency who's wholly dependent on 2-4 main clients. Take those clients away, you have no business model and no sustainable management. Pathetic to say the least. It's laughable that this company has stayed afloat for so long, I guess that's their biggest accomplishment.

Tips for getting through this job: don't give a damn and keep your head low.

Cons

Highly questionable leadership appointments. Adults in charge of leading media teams often succumb to middle school level pettiness. Prevalent fear of accountability and refusal to admit mistakes at every level that fosters deep resentment and friction among colleagues and teams.

Cons

Long hours but that's part of agency life

Cons

- The teams are spread thin, not enough staff to cover the amount of work and everyone from entry level to account directors are overworked
- Not a 9 - 5 position, often required to work outside of it, work life balance is hard to achieve
- No training opportunities, once you are in the role you are expected to learn or sink
- Extremely fast paced environment, expect to churn out reports, and client deliverables
- Upper level management does not acknowledge entry level employees
- Social community is lacking, people are nice, but there is no camaraderie
- Promotions are slow and pay is low for the amount of work