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What does this even mean?!
Which agencies are going through layoffs
Your clients on July 1st.
Chicken wing wearing a seatbelt.
Thoughts on possible LA?
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If they are not adjusting your compensation then they are being cheap under the guise of a hollow promotion.
If they are unwilling to compensate, then leverage the title, update your portfolio, and put yourself out there.
Real talk it’s probably at least a little of all of them
I wish I could say it’s trust and you may be very good, but one does not go directly from Jr to Sr unless the agency is being cheap. Even if they throw you an extra $20k, it’s still $20k less than what they’d be paying for a “qualified” Sr
I made someone a senior who was 21 and 6 months out of school. Absolutely trusted and believed in her. Upper management did lowball the salary a bit for the level [appropriate for the experience].
I saw a billing sheet that showed the agency was charging clients for my time as a senior AD so I just changed my title and asked for a raise
Good lord just be lucky it wasn't BBDO, they would have created another title in between Jr. and Sr. like Senior Associate Designer to stretch it out as long as humanly possibly.
At the end of the day it it simply comes down to a billing issue. They are very clever and will bill you out as high as they can get away with. So if they give you Sr. and no pay raise, they just made an extra $100 bucks per hour off you while making you feel like a winner.
This is why it's a hell of a lot easier to get a title bump with no pay bump... and if you are clever you take it and jump to the next place to get way more then you would have at the current place. This is also how you see kids 4 years out of school with ACD titles. They play the game just like the agencies play it.
To be sure, this really pisses people off who play by the rules and try to be fair amd stay at a title for 5 years. But fortune absolutely favours the bold (but work hard and be able to back it up for sure).
The older and bigger the company the more like they are to use know and use these manipulation tricks.
Definitely both. To what degree though we'd need more details.
Chheeeaaaappp
It was normal for me as I’ve been through this very thing. As a JR I was partnered with an ACD, promoted in 8 months to mid. Still had various Sr and Acd partners for the next 3.5 years (and was being scoped as a SR team). Then finally told them they need to make me a SR. Probably just warrants a convo that starts with “Hey I’ve been doing yada yada and feel like my title should reflect it, if there are things you think I’m missing I’d love to know what they are to make it happen.” It’s at that point 3 things can happen- 1. They agree and give you a promotion/raise. 2. They tell you what to work on and you can honestly assess if what they say is fair and work toward that. 3. Or honestly assess what they say is unfair and know for certain they are being cheap or not paying attention. Then decided how to deal with that.
The answer is both. Agencies (companies in general but especially agencies battling margin decreases on the daily), try to get the most/best work done for the lowest cost. If they can get away with it, they will. It’s rare (though shortsighted) that fairness, morale, and retention concerns get top billing when decisions are made. Also, the P&L trumps career advocacy every time. But - you would not be in a senior role if they didn’t think you could handle it, so it speaks well of how they view your skills/potential. Also — and really this is a frustrating management culture difference from place to place — some managers/agencies believe you only get a promotion to a role (salary/title) when you have actually been doing the job of the new level for some time. Others (more fairly I believe) promote once they see you have grown and have proven in less literal ways that you are ready for the job.
The best course of action, if you like working there, is to kick ass doing that job for 6 months, document your work and successes, and then lay out a clear case for your promotion. If they don’t give it to you, move on.
Probably a resourcing issue.
If oversight from a director or ecd was increased, it's a good sign. It means they trust you, but as a fallback, have the eyes of a director to manage and guide you. If there's no oversight, it's probably being cheap.
Both things happen often. If this is unusual then I wouldn't read too deep into it.
Clients can and will audit if necessary and so agencies typically won't try to get away with it too often.
Every once and a while, someone leaves at the same time you deserves more responsibility. Most of the time it is your review time and you didn’t fuck anything up or cause waves so you get a raise or promotion
First - you should never go from Jr to Sr without a mid-level title. Like Jr Copywriter, THEN Copywriter, THEN Sr Copywriter and pay your dues in each level before a promotion.
We see it too much in this industry recently - there’s too many people without experience running things now. Slowdown, learn the craft, then worry about the title.
If this is a conversation about promotion indicators, then you need to have a discussion on what the gap and expectation is with your manager or their manager.
Role of a SR AND the title, or just the role?
The company may be trying to retain talent by stroking your ego so you don’t quit. How’s the health of your agency?
Both, but mostly cheap.
Hey, sorry everyone was out with family yesterday. Just seeing these messages now. Thank you everyone for your replies!
The culture right now at my work is a little interesting. In mind it feels that they are being cheap... but I also have a gut feeling that I deserve the promotion. Technically I have been a JR. for almost 1.5 years. I have also completed a year long internship with the company prior.
I definitely work my butt off, and I have been working as SR for quite sometime without the title. Long hours, lots of responsibility with no support from an actual SR.
I also understand that you need to “prove your promotion” ... but I have been preforming as a SR. With responsibilities for some time, and have worked as a designer at a few other companies prior.
I think it’s a bit of both. Just generally curious if it is a normal thing that agencies do.