I'm working at an Omnicom Media Group (Health) agency currently and am being courted by Real Chemistry. The potential pay bump is 30%, but I'm wary of the reviews I'm reading. I specialize in pubs and I'm tenured (got good PTO where I am) and wary about going to an "unlimited" PTO policy, but also really nervous about the looming IPG merger. Work life balance is important to me. Its not great now, but by the reviews it looks like its worse at RC. Do I stay or do I go?
Come on over! There are a bunch of us here 🤓🧪📖 at Real Chemistry.
Benefits at RC are equal or better than most places. You can likely take at least how many days you are allotted at your current company.
I personally really appreciate the ability to take a random unplanned vacation day after a pitch or brand planning if time allows without worrying about my vacation bank.
The reviews are real. Not everyone is happy. Some are miserable. Some have boundaries, others do not. It’s really a mix of personality and attitude.
Solid take. The key is to be you, lean into good relationships with others, build things for the greater good, and tune out the noise/bad attitudes.
stay
Unlimited PTO can be a scam - it really depends on the company culture. If there is a culture where people feel they can and do use them, it's great. If people feel like they can never take time off or are never allowed to, then yes, it is a scam.
As for vacation payout, it may not be as great as many think. Some accrue the vacation over the year to limit vacation payouts upon leaving, even if you can take the whole block on January 1.
Would roll the dice (current omnicom). Feels like the MedEd business are going to get heavily consolidated (prob under HCG tbh) and MedEd is a growing investment area for RealChem.
Former HCG and would agree that no one is safe there, especially with the merger coming. Really good people were impacted in all of the layoff rounds.
W/L balance depends on the team and how many pitches you get put on. And as far as PTO goes, creatives basically just take it as they like. Coverage can be an issue. But, unlimited PTO is the policy and people take it, so the trade off is that you’re expected to cover for your colleagues when they take their time. There’s a resourcing team to help with this. Account services/strat don’t take off as freely, and don’t have the benefit of a resourcing team to find coverage.
This was my experience too
30%? I'd take it
No
Just curious,does Real Chemistry still offer a sabbatical? Worth the risk either way to leave. Meded agencies are ripe to be merged together between Omnicom and IPG.
Can confirm re: new hires no longer receiving sabbatical and policy changes stating that you only get a single sabbatical at your 5 year mark
Omnicom just slashed its 401k program. Buckle up IPG peeps.
It's bad. And - unless things have changed in the past year, the place has been on a downward trajectory for several years prior to that.
You should try connecting on linkedin with someone that could be a colleague and see what they think of working there. I am always leary of online reviews from Glassdoor and this would give you an opportunity to talk someone to get the DL.
What did you end up doing?
Beware of unlimited vacation time. It really does not exist. it seems that some team members take it seriously and take a ton of time off. Leaving the rest of the work for the remaining few. Since I have been at a company with unlimited vacation time, I take far less days than I would, if I had a fixed number of promised days off. For example, my previous employer gave me 15 vacation days off, which did not include sick time or other holidays. Since I’ve been at an unlimited vacation time place, I’ve taken maybe 9 to 10 days off. Because you are not awarded a certain number of days off, you don’t get to take additional days the following year. In fact, anything beyond two consecutive weeks at a time needs to be approved by the higher ups. Importantly: if you are terminated, you are not paid for your unused vacation time, because there is no fixed amount awarded or promised to you in a letter of agreement. Because certain states require that a company pay you for unused vacation time, it is safer for a company to give “unlimited “ because then they are not violating the law when you are terminated or when you exit the company, and they do not pay you any unused vacation time. I’m much preferred being granted certain number of days, and that those days would roll over from year to year if unused.