Pros
- Daily lunch stipend (that doesn't exist anymore since we're remote) - Laptop (that's old, laggy and has been passed around probably 10x before I got to it) - $$ for reporter dates (that everyone runs tabs on bc hey, free meals at Nobu? why not!) - No writing test!!! (because being a good writer means nothing here)
Cons
Stay away! Astrsk has no money! And has a terrible rep among the PR/media pros. - Clients are firing them ALWAYS. High turnover, low retainers. - High turnover in staff too. Low pay, pay cuts, hold on raises, crappy holiday bonus, etc. the CEO rather spend his $$ on swag, schmoozing clients and media. - CEO has his favorites and his priorities are clearly not focused on the agency that he's built. He's too focused on "being weird" and makes the team send silly pitches dubbed as "creative" to reporters because it's "on brand" - Upper management is spread thin, covering up for all of the junior staff's mistakes and will also follow up with you within a minute if you don't answer slacks or email. - Team structure = mess. Sloppy trackers and lists. Sending clients our pitch drafts and media lists, and pretty much being "yes men" even though something might be out of scope. Oh, you'll actually never know retainer sizes or scopes so you're just blindly pitching. - You're expected to answer a client email immediately after it comes in. Responses are super rushed and rarely thoughtful. Also, the team is encourage to lie to clients about media conversations and anticipated coverage. - Most of the team is fresh out of college with little-to-no experience and I feel bad because THIS is their first intro to PR. Sad! - Internally, we all talk about how miserable it is here and everyone on staff are scrambling to find a new job but everyone covers it up with a "xoxo i love it here!"