Overworked, Underpaid, and Undervalued – Proceed with Caution
Pros
1. Exposure to multiple brands and industries within the service sector. 2. Some knowledge growth is to be expected - but is not facilitated by Apex. Grab whatever knowledge/skills you can for yourself and get out. (Not applicable to the boots-on-the-ground technicians) 3. Fast-paced environment that can build resilience and adaptability. A great insight on the kind of company you do not want to work for long term. 4. Some coworkers are talented and supportive despite challenging conditions. Connections made here can and are truly worthwhile in both career and personal aspects.
Cons
1. Poor work-life balance: Would often have 10+ hour days with no end in sight. 2. Unrealistic expectations: High revenue targets with shrinking budgets and minimal resources. 3. Lack of long-term strategy: Focus is solely on short-term digital marketing gains rather than sustainable growth. Or being forced to use agency's that were clearly never right for their roles from the very beginning. 4. Bureaucratic approval process: Initiatives require input from 5-10 individuals, slowing down execution. 5. Blame culture: Marketing is held responsible for poor results despite having little control over necessary changes. Often times having to work with choices you had no hand in making. Operational inefficiency's on the actual businesses side were numerous. 6. Forced role transitions: Employees are moved into roles outside their expertise with little to no training or support. 7. Overemphasis on reporting: More time is spent justifying data to operators than executing marketing strategies or campaigns. 8. “Unlimited PTO” is misleading: Heavy workloads make taking time off impractical with no one actually available to provide any amount of adequate coverage while you are out. 9. Low pay relative to workload: Staff are consistently underpaid and undervalued. I was aware of several employees who were being paid far less than their colleagues for the exact same role. Some times with a discrepancy of 10's of thousands of dollars. In a number of cases I was truly disgusted by the sizable gap in pay scale.