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Not in-house, but I regretted going to a tech company too early in my career. It felt like there was no path forward that I liked. And then it was an uphill battle to get back into advertising.
If you see yourself becoming a CD one day, probably best to grind it out in the agency world until you get there. After that, you can cash out and go in-house, tech, wherever.
Chief
I have. Spent a little over a year in house and am back agency side.
Yes - the work life balance was amazing.
No - the salary was the same. [more bonus but total comp was about the same]. Obviously depends where you are in house but salary is often not any different.
The work was boring. I could manage that.
It was also out of my wheelhouse [the work I was hired to do was deemed lower priority so I worked on stuff I had no clue about]. That was harder.
The “culture” was horrid. My boss was unquestionably the meanest person I ever worked for. My dog died a week into the job and I literally had to beg for time off.
The culture was a game of “how long have you been there” and where did you go to Business School.
Pro
HATED IN HOUSE AT APPLE WITH ALL MY BEING. Left as soon as possible, and didn’t regret it for a second. The grass, is just not, always greener.
What VP 1 said was extremely similar to my experience in house at a darling, female led tech company. The main difference was that the how long have you been here was which group of your coworkers you watch the Bachelor and Bachelorette with and my hours were awful. It felt like a cliquey sorority and I was the sporty outcast bc I didn’t like the bachelor, getting my nails done, or lash extensions. I had horrible work life balance and stress levels - often worked 16 hour days. They did push mental health and time off but it was often “you should take the day!” but then my workload would remain the same with less time.
I’m back agency side and SO MUCH HAPPIER. Also a tiny bit better paid and I found a place that respects work life balance.
Every agency is different just like every in-house is different. In-house isn’t a step down either or a utopia. It’s a different work environment I find challenging - after I found the right place. I made the move, based on the work and opportunities, not because I was sick of agencies. Think about how your next move - and every move - develops you and your career.
I’ve been told to not go in-house before you’re a senior level writer. Adding portfolio quality work is tough in-house, so going there with book that’s lacking those strong portfolio pieces could leave you stagnant and struggling to go back to an agency if you decide in-house isn’t for you. Not sure if that’s true for everyone. All the people I know who went in-house as juniors or mid levels still have books filled with student work and very little real produced work, so I think they are gonna struggle moving up the ladder.
I went in-house this year. LOVE the work-life balance, no insane people, make more $, now I get a pension, a 401k match and permanent work from home. Win, win, win!
Totally worth it. And brands can be sexy, tbh. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 😉
I regretted going to a worse agency for the title bump and better work life. Felt like I was missing out for the whole time I was there