Ogilvy Reviews | Glassdoor
Ogilvy Reviews
Companies
  • Jobs
  • Companies
  • Salaries
  • Interviews

    Ogilvy Reviews

    Updated January 16, 2019
    1,069 reviews

    Filter

    Filter

    3.4
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    Ogilvy Global CEO John Seifert
    John Seifert
    152 Ratings

    Employee Reviews

    Sort: PopularRatingDate
    Pros

    • "Amazing work environment with very friendly people who are always willing to help" (in 87 reviews)

    • "Good working culture and work life balance" (in 32 reviews)

    Cons

    • "Hard to plan work/life balance with uncertainty" (in 77 reviews)

    • "long hours and not great people" (in 97 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Great Company"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Ogilvy full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Great company with great benefits. Most of all it's the people that make it great.

      Cons

      Like most big agencies, politics.

    2. "Great experience"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Ogilvy full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Creative Freedom
      Ability to expand scope of interests
      benefits

      Cons

      relatively low pay for NYC

      3. Join the Ogilvy team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "In serious trouble"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Assistant Account Executive in Washington, DC
      Former Employee - Assistant Account Executive in Washington, DC
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Ogilvy full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Looks good on resumes, fast-paced, and will learn a lot if you are young

      Cons

      Ogilvy as a whole is struggling as they "restructure". Keep that in mind when considering a role with them. They are not stable right now.

      In DC: Management constantly makes you feel undervalued as an entry level employee b/c management did not make time to train new/young employees, no HR in dc office, employees were not team oriented and people were out for their own personal and professional gain, the clients suffered all the time, certain staff were overworked and it reflected in their ability to be more team oriented or go the extra mile for their coworkers or clients, its not a very fun or social office

      Advice to Management

      Respect that new and younger employees may take more time to grow, be available to help them and at least pretend like you are interested in their growth. Some type of office bonding events could help smooth the awkward social gaps.

    4. "A Rudderless Ship"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Washington, DC
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Washington, DC
      Negative Outlook

      I worked at Ogilvy full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      1) Good name on the resume 2) strong creative legacy 3) a chance to experience integrated work

      Cons

      Raises and promotions follow no rhyme or reason, even if you bring in business.

    5. "Technically Good Humanly awful"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Strategic Planner in Tunis, MT
      Former Employee - Strategic Planner in Tunis, MT
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Ogilvy full-time

      Pros

      Good place to learn
      Lot of freedom
      Creative agency

      Cons

      Awful management
      People treated like crap
      Bad HR decisions

      Advice to Management

      Remember that people that wor for you are people
      Don‘t hire and keep jerks

    6. "Time for a Reboot"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Marketing Coordinator
      Current Employee - Marketing Coordinator
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Ogilvy full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Amazing people who work extremely hard and ar dedicated to one another and to the company.

      Cons

      - Raises are non-existent and if they do occur (rarely), they are not merit based.
      - Promises always made. Promises NEVER kept
      - Inability to acquire new business, let alone retain it.
      - Very little focus on company moral or temperament
      - Does not celebrate employee contributions
      - Primary concern is to the shareholders
      - A legendary monolith whose days are numbered due to smaller, more agile agencies
      - Unable to acquire or maintain great talent (compensation)

      Advice to Management

      Care more about those who ACTUALLY do the work. No point having a company filled with execs and neglect those that give you the ability to have the job.

      Note to Aspiring Applicants: If hired, the rule for Ogilvy has always been: "Get In and Get Out". Get the name and experience on your resume and then leave. Ogilvy employment should be less than 3 years if you want to move up in pay and opportunities.

    7. Helpful (2)

      "Empty Promises"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Atlanta, GA
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Atlanta, GA
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Ogilvy full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Good name to have on resume, very hardworking people

      Cons

      I was told over and over again what "is coming" and what "will happen" but never given actual facts or outcomes of the promises - they were all empty. It made me sad to have attempted to stay for so long, as I was holding out for the hopefuls.

      Advice to Management

      Ogilvy, please be transparent to the future of your workers - you gave ATL employees hundreds of empty promises and outright lies for months. It's been a mess since he beginning of the "transformation" and you no longer value your teams like David would.

    8. "Going through a rough patch"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ogilvy full-time

      Pros

      Great people, culture, and work

      Cons

      With some of the changes happening in the company and industry, the focus on the people has been ignored and it has caused mass turnover.

    9. "No respect for employees"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Graphic Designer in Chicago, IL
      Former Employee - Graphic Designer in Chicago, IL
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Ogilvy full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Um, wow haha I don't know, you tell me.

      Cons

      This company has very little to no respect for its employees. Uses important social issues (such as women in leadership, etc) as leverage to try to restructure their departments that are already failing badly. But then won't train the people they promote leaving newbies badly managed and employees with recent promotions in work tornados. Nice one. Also, shocker, but the massive corporate agency model doesn't work. It's only purpose is to generate monotonous ideas that have already been done and produce work for clients that are stuck in the 1960's.

      Advice to Management

      Get it together. The reason you're losing so much business as a company is because you don't value the creativity of new talent and you waste great resources in the efforts to "create new departments" when the issue at hand isn't the current number of departments but rather, that the work that you put out is stale and lame. Gamble on some new talent and give them a voice. Stop preaching David Ogilvy's mantra of "big ideas" if you aren't willing to think outside of the box.

    10. Helpful (2)

      "Go someplace else."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Chicago, IL
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Chicago, IL
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Ogilvy full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Depending on the manager, work can be somewhat self-directed and arrival time may be flexible. The design work is so cool. Some really good people come through. Some people enjoy the free chair massages weekly (not for me).

      Cons

      Top-heavy, self-important creative leadership steps all over the critical support staff. No raises - they keep moving the goal posts! No holiday party, no bonus. Rarely a thank you from above. Culture of ain't it great that we work so late. High turn over, except for the unambitious - and they get cut in the layoffs which are plenty.

      Advice to Management

      Make eye contact and say hello to your underlings. Acknowledge that they contribute to winning you your precious awards. Don't confuse beer parties with valuable perks, and snacks as substitutes for bonuses. Stop cheerleading on the Titanic--just point us to the lifeboats.