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JOHN MCNEIL STUDIO

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Great Career Stepping Stone but Difficult Work-Life Balance, Hard to Stay Long - Anonymous employee JOHN MCNEIL STUDIO Employee Review

2.0
Oct 15, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great for those looking to get more hands on experience and be given lots of responsibility, a chance to really prove yourself which can be challenging at other places. Most of the people there are also really great, nice, hardworking and down to earth. With one client there is also the opportunity to work on broadcast TV spots which is difficult to experience at other agencies.

Cons

The executives have difficulty saying no to clients. JMS has been struggling with new business and branching out from its two major clients which results in bending over backwards for work. This puts stress on the mid and entry level employees to do high intensity/volume work at the last minute. You might be asked at 4pm on a Friday if you can work until midnight or perhaps the whole weekend - not every day but frequent enough where the long, last-minute hours are not sustainable to keep employees long term. Middle management isn't great so you feel like your hours/workload aren't being monitored, regular reviews and communication with supervisors are rare and you don't feel like your time is valued. Wherever you work in the advertising industry long nights and big project pushes are always going to happen, but at JMS these pushes at peak seasons can be so brutal and last so long even light summer workloads and fantastic time off perks aren't enough for potentially 6 weeks straight of 50-75 hours of work. Think carefully if an ad agency is for you.

Explore other reviews about JOHN MCNEIL STUDIO

5.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

John McNeil is a small, dynamic agency based in Berkeley. Working in production, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate on a diverse range of projects, gaining valuable exposure to different aspects of marketing and advertising. The position provided valuable professional growth opportunities, along with the chance to work alongside a talented and dedicated team.

Cons

As with many agencies, workloads and priorities can shift quickly, requiring flexibility and adaptability. However, there is a supportive team culture, and colleagues consistently work together to navigate busy periods and meet client needs.

2.0
Jun 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

an intense place but worthwhile if you’re passionate about B2B marketing. the studio environment in berkeley is lovely which can spark creativity. they used to do weekly “dinners” for staff which was a nice token of their appreciation.

Cons

i advise staying away. here’s why: - toxic management all around - leadership is a joke - the head of brand strategy is borderline combative - they’re not capable of selling any real digital media capabilities to clients other than web redesigns and half-baked comms strategies - hard to do meaningful work when all of strategy is dictated by the CEO - don’t get me started on how poorly Ops is ran overall the agency is ran by ego-driven “marketers” who reached their peak in the dot com era. they will sadly get eaten up by AI soon.

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