Pros
Decent perks and benefits This was my favorite part about the company. They had vendors come in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for breakfast and everyday during lunch. No discounts on the food but still a decent perk. The company will also reimburse you for gym memberships at Lifetime Fitness, Cooper's fitness in McKinney, and Texas Family Fitness. Stable company This company is extremely conservative and financially backed so they can most likely battle through any hardships with the economy. Very lenient If you're applying for the Jr. Graphic Design position, then it's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. They will work with you to try and make you better instead of kicking you to the can. But that's only if you show the drive and determination to want to improve. Also, sometimes people show up late or take "long" lunches and no discipline is enforced. Could be a good or bad thing depending on your work ethic. Good work/life balance People in the Marketing department rarely had to stay late. There are times when it gets hectic and times when you wish you weren't there because it's so slow. Vacation/sick time As long as you give them proper notice they don't care when you need a vacation. I do know one of the managers requires a doctor's note if you call in sick, which shows the amount of trust she has in her employees. She will also fire you on the spot after you put in your two weeks.
Cons
Very conservative Because this company is so conservative, the designs and innovation behind them follow suit. One time the big boss told us, "Everyone here is replaceable." And it's true because the quality of work the department is producing can be done by even the most inexperienced of workers in the field. Up to a few months ago (review written in August) they were just now beginning to make all of their websites mobile-friendly which should show how behind they are on keeping up with trends. Upper management doesn't like modern designs and will sometimes prefer designs which look like they were made in the 90s. If you plan on staying with this company for the rest of your life then this shouldn't effect you but if you plan to move elsewhere your designs won't be able to keep up with other competitors. Work is bland As a Jr. Graphic Designer, you'll be assigned to a lot of form edits, changing numbers and grammar. You'll also be assigned pretty much ALL PowerPoints created by the Recruiting department which working with them has been a pretty awful experience in itself. If you're lucky you'll get cool assignments but even those are basic. Just flyers and brochures, no magazines or multi-page documents. Again, all this effects your portfolio in the long run. Pay is awful If you do decide to work with this company then be sure to ask for an over-the-top amount of money during negotiations. The Marketing department (can't speak for other departments) only will give you a 2% annual increase. If you're starting at a junior position, then it's not much of an increase. 2% looks different in the eyes of someone else with a higher salary, I guess. I was with them for a year and you notice who the really hard workers are, they even get 2%. Your annual review is a joke and that number is predetermined by upper-manager not based on your performance. Also, as of recent (and this applies to up to 5 different people within the Marketing department), promotions come with no salary increase. I know a majority of those five people, including me, turned the offers down. Extremely high turnover rate and low morale for many employees People come and go so frequently that one employee told me, "I don't even bother learning people's names." It was brought up multiple times, as a joke, that they were surprised I've stayed as long as I did. Many of the workers in the department aren't excited to be there. You would think it being a Marketing department that the culture would be lively and fun but it's not. It's just as vibrant as a library. Poor IT support if you use a Mac It helps knowing how to troubleshoot issues with Mac because their IT department has only one guy which has intro-level experience with Macs.