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Starting my first job soon.
Protips?
Inhouse LA? Any reccos
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I worked at droga shortly after it got acquired. to be honest, a lot of acquisition deals will give senior staff bonuses to retain them (eg if you stay on for 3 years, you get a million dollars for example). this definitely seemed to be happening because about 3 years after the “deal” happened, a lot of CDs, ECDs, department heads etc left. it was a gradual tightening of rules and a changes really only became apparent after they insisted on “cutting bottom performers” after performance reviews. it had already been a competitive agency but the “consulting-vization” of it all made every relationship feel like a “networking opportunity”
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If you’re en route to being bought or merged, you’ll see senior leadership in more closed door meetings. There’s less of a transparent, candid atmosphere and more secretive, tight-lipped behavior. The vibe is just off. Holding onto existing accounts becomes paramount (don’t want to lose something and mess up the deal), closer scrutiny of finances and teams, outside parties brought in.
The other comments on what happens after are accurate. First year is fine then the wheels come off.
yeah. I joined for the last two years of a place that was acquired a few years back. It's a slow death. The first year is probably the best time, then the second year, etc. plan that exit
also as to whether or not your firm is going to be bought, at my (mid-sr) level i'd really just take stock of how the business is performing and your read on C-level motivations. more and more outside firms being involved, AOR changes etc
Happened where I work. Multiple rounds of layoffs and they phased out our profit sharing bonuses. A few folks at the top got filthy rich though.