operations associate

senior associate

coordinator

manager

senior coordinator

SmithBucklin

I worked at Smithbucklin for under a year and shifted to a Sales position after a while of working an Operations role there. The Operations role was boring and unfulfilling so I wanted to be moved to Sales (which I later was).

The staff there all seemed really nice and the Management seemed like wonderful people. The issue I had with it was that you're incentivized to work on more clients and hit sales quota targets that shift each year for multiple revenue stream quotas per client. 

It seems like a work life balance that incentivizes being as stretched thin as possible and learning how to manage that balance. 

The building seemed great and they'd have company paid employee cocktail hours to celebrate things along with company provided lunches here and there. 

They also had a Hybrid work flow which was nice to be able to work from home. The thing that I didn't like about this initially was that as I was coming aboard, no one was ever in the office, so there wasn't much of a work culture outside of sticking to your cubicle and chiming in with a few people here and there.

I personally did not mesh well with their Sales format as I became overwhelmed by the clients I was given and the quotas I needed to hit. 

Depending on the clients you are given can heavily impact your performance here. 

One of my clients was one that was going through a rebrand at the time in an industry that's been dwindling for quite a while (print magazine advertising). Seeing as this client was undergoing a rebrand and was within a declining industry, it made it very difficult to hit my quotas that I needed to due to unhappy repeat customers who saw no ROI from investing, year over year declining investment from clients, etc. 

There are things I could have done better myself as well and I have made peace with that, however I think the company needs to learn when to call a Spade a Spade. 

I was transferred in part way through to the quarter and my training was limited at best. It seemed like everyone was so busy with their own client bandwidth that they didn't have enough time to properly train and guide newer employees like myself. 

I loved how well put together Management seemed and how much they had a clear vision of how organized everything should be. They also had great security throughout the building which made me feel safe. 

The hardest part of the job was trying to not get overwhelmed when dealing with clients that had difficult markets to sell to while trying to juggle your other clients. Not knowing certain information due to having a hard time getting ahold of other employees on certain clients who were stretched thin between clients of their own. 

I learned that I need to be more organized and straightforward with my thoughts and words. I need to be upfront and call out a pattern of data when I see it. 

I learned how fun it is to help run trade shows and how much I enjoyed traveling during my time here. 

It's not a great place to work if you don't like multi-tasking and having quotas thrown at you all the time. 

If you can handle that though, you'll be just fine.

Working at SmithBucklin is a very fast paced environment. They tend to keep their employees busy in every department, which I would say does help speak to their ability in providing young professionals with a strong foundation for a rewarding career. However, it will lightly add that this experience does tend to come with an expiration date. The relationship at a direct manager level is one of a kind and the client relationships built are invaluable. Corporate Management is driven by numbers and often detached from the employees, often failing to provide an atmosphere or conditions required for a good work/life balance. Eventually, this reaches a place where it's easy to burn out and you find yourself forced to compromise personal and professional goals. That said, I'll always be grateful for the experience and relationships I gained while there.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It wasn't overwhelming...at first. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Complete lack of training and being overwhelmed with too many projects.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Everyone stays in their cubicle and are overworked. There is no work culture.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful and overwhelming. It would involve answering a million emails to various people for different clients and being the main line of customer service and tech support as well..

Out of my entire career, i have never been part of such a toxic and awful environment where you are completely overworked, overwhelmed and under appreciated. So much immoral and inappropriate behavior by those in charge and felt like it was a good old boys club in charge. My time at smithbucklin was from 2005-2008 and I hope the environment and atmosphere changed because i would not recommend anyone working at this place.

I worked with some very intelligent individuals.  The company is very driven to meet their goals and they expect the same from their employees.  The company does an annual outing for all employees and was always a fun time for all.  The most difficult part of working with this company were the hours as you were expected to work until everything was completed and at the time this was difficult for me due to being a new mother over the last couple of years I was employed.

This was one of the most demoralizing places I’ve ever worked. Everyday was like drinking from a fire hose and it was your fault if you couldn’t keep up (despite an inequitable allocation of resources.). I routinely worked 60+ hours a week and when I asked for assistance it was made clear there wouldn’t be any because I should be able to keep up. I left and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. This isn’t a great environment or team. 

Worked with Smithbucklin for a short period of time. Generally it’s an environment where you sink or swim and if you swim you seem to be drowning. Everyone is over worked, it’s stressful, management can be horrible. 

With that, you can get on a great client with an amazing team but it’s truly a gamble. You are usually working on two clients and therefore you are doing two jobs that really should be meant for one. I had the pleasure of working with some amazing people and some people I’d never want to work with again

SmithBucklin is a leader in Association Management Services and has a well earned reputation as a well run and great place to work. It lives client Stewardship everyday and the people work hard to always but the clients needs ahead of the company.

Overall workplace culture is fine, but once you get within your department it is a different ballgame. Days vary based on your client work-load, and even year over year depending on what your client mix is. I've had incredibly easy conference seasons, and ones where I came in thinking I'd quit every day. It all depends on who your client team includes, and who your clients are. Some leadership changes have been great, others not so much.

In my entire profession I have never experienced a more toxic work environment. Funny thing is they think they’re progressive and healthy. Management is focused on themselves and not interested in the team at large. CEO is nice but focused on bottom line and has no real insight into culture. SVP’s are corporate yes-men who could care less about the people working for them. They’re pieces on a chess board. Run!!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Operations associate 3 salaries reported	$50,667 per year
Senior associate 3 salaries reported	$55,667 per year
Coordinator 7 salaries reported	$62,429 per year
Manager 3 salaries reported	$89,000 per year
Senior coordinator 3 salaries reported	$73,833 per year

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