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Chief
I’ve worked at two of the named and one of the prime periods at Chiat… it’s a ton of work and a bit of glory. But it’s advertising glory, so is that glory at all? You waste a lot of time and life agonizing over stuff you have almost no control over, and miss out on a lot of “free” time in the process. So you better really love making ads. I did, and do, but I still often think there was a LOT of wasted intellectual and temporal energy. But least we had perks!
Chief
I have 3 friends who have worked at W+K. Yes, long hours and lots of work. But in that sense, they are not that unique. A lot of mediocre agencies will still work you to the bone anyway. You might as well make some cool shit if you’re gonna be working that much. Or you could work 80 hours/week making banners. Your choice.
None of my friends lasted very long. The one that stayed the longest was there for 3 years. Basically most people stay long enough to get some cool work in their books and the name in their résumés. Sure, there are people who stay a lot longer, but most people burn out fast and want something with better WLB.
The people I know who worked there didn’t “make advertising their whole personality”. They all hate awards and couldn’t care less about them, even after winning a shitload of them (during their time there, not before). They just wanted to make the best work possible, and were extremely talented and hard working.
Every place has its issues, and most of those issues are the same ones you find at every shop. I’ve worked at several of these and found that specific accounts (and the leaders guiding them at any given point) mattered far, far more than the shop itself. One account will be winning lions while the one a floor down is making people quit en masse.
It’s not the golden ticket you think it’s going to be. An agency is still an agency at the end of the day. Even the best agency has horrible accounts. They still lose business. They still have layoffs. They still have negligent leadership. They still have office politics and favoritism and unconscious bias like any other place. If you’re lucky, you can get book pieces, win awards, and leave with career stability. If you’re not, you’re always only one lost account or layoff away from the “best” agency becoming the worst decision in your career.
If you’re going to work in advertising, may as well do it right. I’ve worked at one of the agencies mentioned. It was a lot of pitches, a lot of late nights, a lot of weekends, and a lot of (mostly) friendly competition amongst the creatives to make great work.
I learned a lot and built a good book so I don’t regret it… but it didn’t feel sustainable either. It was fun, but it’s still advertising at the end of the day.
I have two friends that work at Mischief. All I know is that they are producing a shitload of book-worthy work. Don’t know about the hours.
Hours can be a lot but only when you’re selling a lot. generally it’s pretty good wlb
As others have said, working long hours isn’t exclusive to the ‘hot’ agencies. I work at a big mediocre agency and we burn just as many hours and weekends producing work that will never go in my book. Or not producing at all. I would say that it’s better to aim for those good agencies while your younger, cost less to employ and have less responsibilities. The grind to make good work is much more exhausting when you’re older. If you still even have job.
It’s all about the people. Work is work, but it can be fun too. Late nights don’t seem so bad when you’re a team working towards the same goal.
Same shit everywhere
I’ve worked at two of those agencies for many years.
You need a creative leader that everyone feels they could learn from and be inspired by, who will push them to do their best and who would also be willing to go to bat for them. A truly great creative leader gets the fear out of the system. Miserable creative leaders put everyone on their heels.
When you have a leader who knows how to build people up (and is willing to), and the creative ambition is intact, and the people trust each other, it can feel amazing to consider where you get to work a “job”. That was my experience for most of my time.
My experience tells me that when Creativity stops being at the center of why decisions are made, in a place like that everything starts to fall apart.
Money and HR and PR are important…but they should exist in service to the reason we all were excited to get out bed in the morning first and foremost.
I work at a smaller office of one of the agencies you listed (still in VHCOL major city in the US). Regional leadership and size of our office has gone a long way. Yes we work a lot, but because we have leaders who have lives outside of work (one is a photographer for example)
I think that sets a huge example for us to be able to be more real about who we are and our priorities. We still have weekend work and get burnt out, but I think we’re kind to each other for the most part.
Also agree that clients go a long way in this. Certain brands are rougher than others (or maybe promote trauma bonding at least lol)