Zimmerman Advertising Employee Reviews about "work life balance"

Pros

Great resume builder as you will be exposed to large US accounts with the promise of being able to properly service them.

Cons

Working with industry dinosaurs that do not understand modern media practices, but are extremely good at weaseling out of difficult situations until they the agency gets fired. Unable to actually produce what is promised to the client. Revolving door as folks continue to leave for greener pastures. No work life balance! If you are needed and not there, do not expect to have a job. Advancement? Sure, after 3 years... But don't expect a solid pay increase. Diversity? Lol. Not in upper management you don't!

Pros

Amazing opportunities to work on big accounts Fun, friendly co-workers Very nice office (updated & modern) Lots of great perks

Cons

Poor upper management support Lack of education for the digital teams and what they do Workload at times is overwhelming No work life balance Everything is a priority and management does not help to prioritize realisticly Clients are extremely demanding and the agency allows Clients to treat employees terribly Pay is super low

Pros

Good for entry level Growth opportunities

Cons

Poor work life balance Not the best pay

Pros

If you need a job then work here. It is a great place for college grads to work because you will learn everything you need to know after working over 50 hours a week in 6 months.

Cons

No balance of work and life. 24/7 means they will call you to work at any time. I was once called by my boss while in church on Sunday to come in immediately. You never get time off. And if you are sick you are expected to come in. Management especially the higher ups are notoriously for being powerfully rude and unnerving. This comes from Jordan Zimmerman at the top. He has no morals. Very high turn over!

Pros

- The building and some of the benefits such as bike rental and discounts at local stores and at Nissan - People work hard - You might have a great career there if you want to have no life, suck up to upper management, and openly lie to your clients. - Jordan Zimmerman is a fantastic speaker. He can motivate anyone to do anything.

Cons

Way too many to list but I will highlight a few: - Management is a MESS. They are so out of touch that I am not sure they realize they are running a slave ship. - Pay is awful and I mean awful. It is easy for them to do so since they recruit the talent directly at the Universities. Kids have no clue what they are getting into. - No and I mean absolutely no work life balance. They do mean 100% of the 24/7 they have in their tagline, and they do not care if you have prior commitments. - Aggressive management; If you don't mind being yelled at or spoken disrespectfully then this place is for you. - They LIE to all their clients. As if they have a social hub room full of people working there. They fill it with employees from other floors to make it look like it is full. They also do not tell their clients they offshore work. - It's all about the big boss' tremendously over-sized ego. If he could brown-nose himself he would. - No ethics - 'Z' culture is the culture of idolizing Jordan Zimmerman, and not the culture of the agency - It is a shame the CEO is so out of touch with its core work base because he is such a great speaker. Maybe flying his private jet got to his head.

Pros

What the most enjoyable part of working at the Z was definitely seeing my colleagues every day. When I say colleagues, I mean AEs ONLY. In my department there were more days that we were suffering than floating on cloud nine, but at least we had a camaraderie- we (the AEs) were all in it together. We had a great understanding of what each of us were going thru, constantly being put down either from our superiors and/or client, so being able to vent about it amongst each other was what kept me/us sane.

Cons

Imagine working for a bunch of pompous jerks who do not give any interest in getting to know their subordinates on a better, healthier level. Considering the AEs/ACs did the grunt of the work, you would think the supervisors, directors, and higher ups would be more appreciative of their employees- I'm pretty sure the EVP of my department didn't know my first name! We were a department of maybe 15 people tops & I worked for him for 2 years! Absolutely no respect for work/life balance; in fact they make you feel bad for wanting to leave at 6 pm (end of the day). You should expect to work long hours (50-60 hours a week) without extra compensation, and don't even get me started about how low the pay is. They do not offer competitive salaries, just an FYI. Working hard wasn't the issue for me, in fact, that was the only way to function, but you are not being thanked for it, rarely recognized that you worked so hard. A pat on the back would be nice. NO, an omelet breakfast isn't telling me thank you. In fact, it takes me away from my desk and prevents me from leaving on time. Part of the problem is that the departments are so spread thin, often times you are hired to absorb 3 positions in one. This is not how a real agency works. They brainwash you to think this is how other agencies function, they are lying. 'Peaks and valleys' is a comment phrase you hear around these hallways, but honestly it displays poor management, or lack there of (considering everyone they hire on a senior level usually doesn't come from an advertising background and/or training is non-existent), that needs to be re-evaluated all together. Training the lower levels is also non-existent. Luckily I was able to survive, but not all are quite so lucky. It was quite difficult to navigate through the nonsense. Also interdepartmental cohesiveness is non-existent. In fact, working with the supportive departments was quite a hassle; the main focus was to prevent doing their job or provide roadblocks to demonstrate why they shouldn't do it. All in all, this is a terrible excuse for an agency, you're better off finding another opportunity, with a company that actually invests in you and cares for you. Believe me, they are out there!

Pros

The people are very talented, smart and pretty easy to work with. You can really learn a lot from fellow employees. It's a good place to start a career especially if you're straight out of college - Zimmerman is one of the only places that will hire recent grads with little to no experience. Zimmerman subscribes to a lot of research programs that many smaller agencies can't afford to subscribe to. The benefits are standard: medical, dental, but no vision coverage and no more 401K match from Omnicom. They used to give out free bikes for signing up to ride in the MS 150 bike ride but they no longer do that. The management and HR are very vocal about telling employees how much they care about them and want them to have a work-life balance and healthy work environment...

Cons

but you are expected to work 24/7, seriously. That's their official tag line and they really are serious about it (unless they're talking to the department of labor... who did do an investigation on them recently). They bite off way more than they can chew when it comes to taking on new accounts and upper management makes ridiculous and unrealistic promises to potential clients which wins accounts but in reality overextends our resources and most clients end up disappointed and employees end up missing deadlines and making mistakes because we aren't given nearly enough time to do our work. It is very rare that you will get a lunch break much less a lunch hour. Expect to work nights and weekends (without an apology from management or even a thank you) especially if you're not an entry level employee. If you're ineligible for overtime they will definitely exploit your time as much as humanly possible without a second thought. Unless you live in your car, you will need to live with a roommate or at home with mom and dad if you are an entry level employee because that is what your entry level Zimmerman salary will allow.

Pros

Great corporate culture! Great people that will become lifelong friends. Lots of opportunities for growth.

Cons

Work/life balance isn't always great.

Pros

Learn to work in a very fast paced environment Client list helps build one's portfolio Gain a lot of experience and responsibility during time there if one takes advantage of the opportunities

Cons

Difficult work life balance Very low salaries

Pros

Great colleagues, very diversified,

Cons

No work life balance