Character SF Reviews

2.9

29% would recommend to a friend

(7 total reviews)

29% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

7 reviews
1.0
27 May 2021

Things have changed in the past few years...

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You'll get a lot of experience, but don't expect any direction.

Cons

This place is a wreck. If you read anything, just read the first point below. The turnover was huge. Out of 15 people in the NY office, only 1 remained after 6 months. They have very real problems with people disliking the principals, do not expect to be mentored but do expect to get burned out. This is the main reason they have turnover problems. The values of the company as a whole were the worst I've ever seen. We would regularly get projects for companies that the principals had invested into, and then be forced to put up with bullying and do free work. Unlimited PTO was a sad joke. One of the directors hadn't taken more than 2 days off since 2019. The leadership team say they want people to take time off, but with the unending turnover there were never enough people to do the work so PTO never happened. Pay equality was shockingly bad. But, when you consider how for the past 20 years that there's only been one female principal (the wife of a founder), it's not surprising. As a woman you'll get lots of work, but zero promotions.

1.0
12 Nov 2022

Completely Idiotic

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pretty decent pay comparable to other design agencies

Cons

Manny & Virgilio were the worst "creative directors" I've ever experienced. They were so self-conscious and unable to provide any actual direction, just expecting you to read their minds and create the most boring work possible. Terribly inefficient and completely unable to complete work or manage effectively. Oftentimes it was praised when people would work until 10pm or midnight or all night, breeding a culture of toxic workaholism. There's a reason the New York office was quickly run into the ground.

1.0
16 Feb 2022

Dentsu takeover changed everything

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Every so often we'd get a mental health day off

Cons

Turnover is a big issue, some departments have had 100% turnover multiple times in the last few years. The hours are intense, some PMs are doing over 60 hours on the reg. Bonuses only happen if you threaten to quit (and you happen to be a white guy). Dentsu has made interesting work disappear and turnover meant we lost a bunch of clients mid-project which was weird.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 7 Reviews

Glassdoor has 8 Character SF reviews submitted anonymously by Character SF employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Character SF is right for you.