Pros
I worked at reitdesign for over 3 years, the best part about this job is the people I worked with. The clients and jobs you work on are varied, although near the end of my employment variety and clientele declined. But due to the small nature of the office, the fellow designers and project managers made the job worth while. We had a good team of people that worked well together and the designers and PMs were friendly, helpful and knowledgeable about design. I would give this place a 1 star but the people I worked with (not there anymore) made this place an amazing work environment. Hours are 9-6.
Cons
Unfortunately in the last year of my employment reitdesign lost a decent amount of clientele, and the owner made a lot of rash, off-the-cuff decisions that led to a year of random firings, an unpredictable/unstable working environment and negativity in the office. Designers were treated poorly on a daily basis (no communication, didn't learn anything new, any arising issues were treated with attitude. Despite that, everyone worked really well together (which is rare for small design studios) but the owner was threatened instead of feeling assured in her team and showed that insecurity on a daily basis). Paid low salaries based on NY average designer salaries with our level experience--despite being leads on all of our individual projects--even with the employees who worked there the longest. Had to jump through numerous hoops just to get an additional 1%+ raise. Owner demonstrated a lack of interest or care in the everyday workings--almost never in the office due to weekly gym sessions, hair cuts, and personal errands and lunches, so designers and PMs were expected to do everything and take leadership roles without benefit (or even acknowledgement). I think the biggest challenge was just the volatile mood swings of the owner making the work environment very unpredictable--one week the reitdesign office was getting through some projects, and the next week the owner fired half of her team without warning. Turnaround on employees at reitdesign is only a few years for a reason.