Pluspunten
They buy fruit once a week for the office and there's a coffee machine for free. There's also a vending machine they keep stocked for when you feel like springing $1 for a .89 cent bag of M&M's. And given how active management has been in giving themselves 4 and 5 star reviews on this site, one could argue that they take an active interest in what their employees have to say.
Minpunten
First of all, this agency isn't really a traditional creative agency. Creative thinking and the proverbial "Big Ideas" aren't in JR's wheelhouse. We like safe work. If it's been done before by another brand and upper management can tell the client it's a safe bet, that's what we go with. What results is everything looking the same across the board. I was all set to write a lengthy, detailed review of this place but it looks like everything I find objectionable has already been brought up. Here are the key take-aways: No creative collaboration "Agency is led by marketing and account people who see creatives as "hands" to make the work they dictate." So much truth in that statement. Going in they really talk up how many "cool brands" they have for their creatives to work on, but in reality it's mostly the piecemeal, below the line and retail work that won't help you keep building your portfolio with interesting work. In addition to that, they actively discourage creative pairings and collaboration. New business pitches and new campaign work is dictated primarily by a couple of the partners (one of whom's creative approach reminds me of Fred Willard's character in 'A Mighty Wind.' Seriously- pure hack and cliche riddled ideas.) One of the ADs who used to work here actually asked if she could concept on new biz and was told by the CD she spoke to, "Our creatives aren't really good at that." High turnover "Under appreciated, overworked, under paid, lack of respect for employees and skill sets, lack of overall investment of employees." Yup. They have an extremely hard time retaining talent mostly because they don't know how to balance their workload. Where most creative agencies have a creative resources manager whose sole function is to efficiently allocate resources, JR takes a "DROP EVERYTHING AND DO THIS NOW" approach to the work. Looking at the reviews management has left on this site, they seem to think of this as a "pick it up and run with it" approach. That's not what that is. What happens is the office ends up with is 2-3 creatives at any given time with too much on their plate, and the rest with not a whole lot to do. No culture Agency life and culture are what make the long hours and crap pay worth it. This agency has no culture. Since culture comes from the people, I suspect the high turnover rate has a lot to do with this problem. There are a handful of people who make showing up to the office not completely unbearable, but the minute they realize their worth and take it elsewhere, they'll take whatever scrap of culture the office might have hoped for with them. Low pay If you're reading this review, then you know how easy it is to look up and compare salaries in your particular field. For the most part, JR pays its Jrs a ridiculously low salary. About $6-$8k less than the industry average. Low to mid 30k range. This is not a normal office. There are a lot of ills and it's a pretty toxic place.