Wieden+Kennedy Employee Reviews about "w k"

Pros

W+K does an incredible job fostering talent and leading them to grow in all the right ways

Cons

Sometimes late nights, sometimes a bit tough to jump in and join the culture

Pros

- People are nice and creative product is excellent. - Portland is a cool city for those that aren't clubbing types. - Prestige of W+K name is significant.

Cons

- Very unstructured so the whole place is held together by threads. - Extremely high turnover since covid and slow to hire new blood. - Pretty low pay overall. Assume people will take hits for the W+K name. - Hours can be brutal. - Creative is the only thing that matters even if it burns all other departments. - No interest in growth or development. They only hire proven people and assume you can hit the ground running (sink or swim).

Pros

W+K has a great work culture. It's a young group of people working hard to produce amazing work. The learning opportunity is unmissable. I will never take it for granted.

Cons

No work/life balance. Hard to switch departments if you're in Media.

Pros

W+K offers an exciting creative work environment with a culture that supports taking creative risks. W+K also provides a supportive environment for advancement to those who are self-motivated.

Cons

Work-life balance is not explicitly part of the culture or values resulting in very long work hours

Pros

They say the work comes first... but the not so secret secret of W+K is that the people come first. It's an amazing place to work.

Cons

Sink or swim environment. If you can't embrace chaos, you won't like it here. Compensation is not competitive & growth opportunities are limited.

Pros

It's one of, if not the, top ad agency in the world. There is an amazing cast of talented characters there. Some days are great, you can't believe you are getting paid to do the work in front of you. Having W+K on your resume and some good connections from it can open doors. The building itself is awesome, probably my favorite in all of Portland. Basketball court, locker room, small gym and yoga a couple times a week were great perks.

Cons

This place is like moving to New York, if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. It's a tough place to work sometimes. Or often pending the client you're on. Demands can be high stress. The company's brand sort of masquerades like it's all fun to work there. They brew Kool-Aid is strong. The hours, working for a very mediocre art director on an unthankful and unpleasable client finally got to me to move on and it was among the best decisions of my life. They do not pay you especially well unless you are indispensable in their eyes, then they pay well.

Pros

Independent. The work matters. Brilliant co-workers. Not a typical ad factory.

Cons

You can often make more money short term at other agencies - but, there's no agency better than W+K on your resume.

Pros

Great people! You will meet many new friends here. Some lifelong. Everyone (or most everyone) is united in doing the best work possible which is why W+K has been so successful. Benefits and work environment are great. I had many opportunities for growth. You can bring your dog to work.

Cons

The company has gotten too big, and it feels like it has lost it's way. The culture and family-vibe doesn't feel as authentic as it once had in years past. There's a lot of politics because there's a lack of transparency at the top. There's no clear understanding of where the company is headed, or that there's any real strategic plan. The last few years have been disappointing from a company leadership perspective. Management Team is floundering.

Pros

You'll make some of the best work of your life working along side incredibly talent and intelligent people. You'll have access to some of the greatest minds in the industry and the chance to work on some of the largest brands in the world. Being independently owned and part of such a large global network is killer if you're thinking about working abroad. Very fun culture!

Cons

You get paid a lot less and likely asked to take a demotion if you move to W+K from another agency. Cost of living in Portland is skyrocketing and salaries are not matching the pace. Culture seems to be shifting slightly from "The Work Comes First" to we really need to think about the bottom line and profits. This isn't a terrible thing, its a business after all, but its something worth noting. Not a lot of communication on agency direction from upper management down.

Pros

Amazing benefits and parental leave programs Beautiful office and office location Smart and talented people Fun (lot's of parties and events and random stuff going on every day) The work will make you proud to work there - even if you do not ever touch it (which is a lot of people) Everyone knows W+K, and they have a good reputation in the business

Cons

Office might be too big. Talented people can get lost in chaos Burn out can happen - but unlimited vacation + sabbatical helps with that