account executive

senior account executive

vice president

account supervisor

senior account supervisor

Edelman

Experiences at Edelman vary person by person because each client, team, manager and office can all be drastically different. Some managers are great, some are horrible. I've had managers who care about me as a person and want to get me on projects I love, but I've also had managers who don't take initiative thereby hindering my opportunities, who are lazy as can be, who drag their feet, and who I don't know how they got hired as they don't seem to know anything and who are rude and mean. That's not necessarily an Edelman-specific problem, but be aware that you need to keep your managers accountable.

Edelman historically has not been the best at pairing people up with what they want to work on, at least lower level employees. That may get better in the future as the firm acclimates to its new PNL and specialty organization, but keep in mind when you come to work here that you won't necessarily have control over what clients and projects you are put on. And even if you are told one thing during your interview, that could change in a heartbeat. You may want to work on technology, but that may only be 10% of what you do - the other 90% might be food & beverage, banking and bus lines as random examples. The other thing to be aware of is Edelman can be bad about spreading people too thin across projects. I've had to work on 8+ clients at one time and that lasted for at least a year. It's impossible to dig deep and produce quality work like that. Supposedly the firm is trying to limit clients per employee to ~2, but I've yet to see that happen.

My favorite part of working here has been making good friends. Many of my coworkers have since left, but I count so many of them as good friends and people that I invite to things like birthday parties, dog sit for and go to weddings for. You're in the trenches together and can't make some of this stuff up, so it's a good place to make good friends.

Overall, Edelman is a good place to cut your teeth in communications and work with some smart people and big name clients. Working here is like baptism by fire a lot of times, but it prepares you for future jobs and teaches you to be resourceful, take initiative, have a voice, stand up for yourself and be a leader.

Edelman is a grind. Clients are demanding, deadline driven, and often unrealistic. These are realities of agency life. 

The reality of life at Edelman is you will work closely in teams of people who are doing everything they can to meet client expectations. 

If you can help them, they will treat you decently (note: not nicely but not rudely), but if you don't drop everything to meet their demands and bend over backwards to do the impossible, you instantly go from tolerated coworker to public enemy number one. 

AND IF YOU EVER DARE TO SAY 'NO,' be prepared for the following: An SAE or VP will go to an SVP or EVP and - despite the fact the request is not feasible - will have a rage-filled temper tantrum. And YOU will be the one who is at fault. 

Not only will you have to do it [insert impossible situation] anyway, you will be labeled as difficult and be ostracized. 

Culture boils down to how employees are allowed to treat each other. At Edelman, you can treat anyone like dirt as long as you are bringing in money OR if you're allied with someone who is in a position of power. 

On my second day, I was invited to a meeting where I was berated by a man I had never met, simply because he wasn't consulted when I was hired. I told my boss about the situation because it made me very uncomfortable; it annoyed my manager that I brought it up and  became clear it was 'my problem' to manage even though I had nothing to do with it.

HR is aware of the abysmal culture but what can they really do? Beer carts and scavenger hunts are nice gestures, but they are always a distraction from the already-tight deadlines and always-on calendars. 

Turnover is an ongoing problem. EVERYONE is looking to get out. 

Do yourself a favor and find somewhere else. Life is too short for the never-ending drama, lower-than-average pay, and complete disrespect you will feel every time you walk in the door.

This is a highly personal review, so take it with a grain of salt. I was a freelancer who had no idea what I was being hired to do, and when I explained my experience and that I could be a huge asset as a permanent staff member as a team lead on a consumer brand, I was ignored for the most part and passed along to "the next guy". From what I experienced, this is a growing creative department that needs a lot of work. There was a lot of turnover (both vouluntary and involuntary) in the 4 months I was there, and people who had been there a while seemed scared and jaded. I think the culture has a long way to go. It felt as if there was a clique within the creative department, which is unnecessary and counterproductive - it should be all about creating the best work. I did not feel like they were utilizing me for all my capabilities and people were being hired at extremely senior levels due to "who they know" (hence the clique feeling). That's not to say these aren't talented people, but hiring people who had never lead a team as a VP CD seemed a little extreme. Again, in my opinion. HOWEVER, I would work here full time because it i a privately held company with exceptional benefits, a strong sense of family, and I appreciate a challenge. It would be great to be able to help clients execute 360 campaigns, while molding the culture of a growing department.

Edelman is an excellent name. The DJE Holdings entity has a lot of quirks and within it there are many wonderful people. There are also toxic people whose bad behavior has been rewarded with many promotions, while the hardest working and most impactful aren't recognized. The infrastructure teams are unappreciated and also wholly uneven, and managers mean well but can't be effective as far as engaging their people. Corporate leadership is performative. Many people within this organization are wonderful, and it's a great way to build a network, but be careful what you wish for and if you get laid off, leverage the Edelman name to the best of your availability and forget about what could have been; it was not going to deliver for you. People are overworked, some are underpaid (whereas others, particularly those newer, are sometimes compensated rather highly compared to their value), and the structures in place are against you as a person, except when you can raise your hand as an enthusiastic diversity metric.

Edelman was a solid place to work. For being a larger agency, the people really make it feel like a small, personal, caring one. I really enjoyed everyone’s support for one another. And my Director was truly a saint when I was dealing with some personal issues and needed an extended period of time off. I was told to please take care of myself, that the machine that is Edelman will miss me, but also get by just fine without me, so to not worry, to not stress, and to know that however much time I needed, it was okay, because they’d all be there with open arms when I got back. And she meant it. But also, I was proud of my teams and the work they did. I have nothing but good things to say about Edelman and the people I worked with there. I was head-hunted and jumped in the opportunity for career advancement, and I deeply regretted it because the higher title and higher pay I’d get at my next role, was NOT worth walking away from a supportive place like Edelman, for the place I ended up with questionable upper management. The people matter so much, and the people at Edelman are superheros. 

Edelman Berland is a good place to get your feet wet. The clients that Edelman (not the same as Edelman Berland, though we often work together) services are some of the biggest brands in the world, and thus very exciting to work with. If you put in the effort to learn you can get a lot out of the position.

Unfortunately, the culture at Edelman Berland doesn't highly value the employees and so you are left with a lot of disgruntled people who are unsatisfied with their role. Don't expect recognition for a job well done and don't believe a word HR says about spot bonuses, they don't exist unless you have VP in your title.

The research done is hit or miss. Some account leads are very knowledgeable and know what they are doing, others are surprisingly lacking in the understanding of the basic concepts of both secondary and primary research. 

Overall, if you are fresh out of college and need a place to start, join the team. If you are looking for a place where you can have a long term career, keeping looking.

Edelman is a good bang for your buck early on in your career. Lots of smart colleagues with high-profile clients. You work a lot, and your paid in exposure (rather than salary...)which is great exposure but I've seen plenty of people burn out quickly because of it. The company is in a really transitional period right now - the old way of doing PR isn't working in our multimedia world, and the company is struggling to find its place. Because of it leadership is fractured and there's a major internal struggle of old-world PR vs new-world PR. 

I'm hopeful the company will move forward and work through these kinks in the coming years, but in the meantime it will be critical for long-time senior staff be more open to creative ideas and integrate digital in a significant way. 

,

Managers were cowards and HR were super rude. A lot of two faced people. They were quick at pointing fingers and critize but do not even analyze their own behavior or admit their own mistakes. Company feels like Disneyland from the outside but from the inside it is all about your affiliations, who is your manager and how, not as collaborative as they may want to appear. I quit. Thank you but no thank you. It is the worst place I worked and I will definitely not recommend the company. Since then I talked to several people still there or ones who have quit already and they all agree with me. I guess i must not be crazy to feel that way.

I've been in the workforce for about 15 years and this is the worst place that I've ever been. It is a PR organization, but really it's just sales. You are being hired as a sales person. Period. 

And what you sell in, they won't be able to staff or actually do the work. Leadership is not very smart, and incredibly sexist. 

No matter what they say, you do not want to work here. And if you do accept a job, you will find what what you are told by recruitment will have zero to do what your actual job will be.

The saying that management is very happy to repeat is that "perception is reality." Which is all fine and good until you're dealing with someone who actually does what you say you can.

Pervasive feelings of inferiority here, and perceived as the worst office in the Edelman network. And in this case, the perception is reality.

Agency life is notoriously feast or famine. One minute you are swamped in work, the next you're comfortable. Even during the heaviest times, work-life balance was not out of reach, though during times of less work it can become pretty boring. Co-workers for the most part are genuinely good people. Politics still exist, but to a much less degree than other companies may experience. The biggest irritation, which is common at agencies, is a heavy emphasis on billing time. Every minute of every day must be accounted for with more time billed to clients than not. This can make it feel like you can never hop out for a coffee break without having to stay later into the evening.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Account executive 4 salaries reported	$61,500 per year
Senior account executive 3 salaries reported	$72,667 per year
Vice president 21 salaries reported	$142,607 per year
Account supervisor 6 salaries reported	$85,000 per year
Senior account supervisor 10 salaries reported	$110,140 per year

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