Edelman reviews

You don't really join a company the size of Edelman, you join a team at Edelman. That team is everything. Choose it wisely. Shortly after my onboarding I was re-org'd as part of an internal business transformation taking place and moved to a national specialty pool from my local/geo team. This led to the rapid decline in my day-to-day experience as I began working across a dozen teams with very little overlap. This led to a feeling of disconnect with the company, with the team and with the work. Ultimately felt like a dead end. Compensation is also marginal. I know of some colleagues who left for 30-50% higher pay at other firms or in-house. Some senior management are truly outstanding mentors. Others are completely hands-off and too quick to drag their team under the bus when things run off the road. Found their approach to WFH/hybrid work very inconsistent. It's not at all clear how they plan to enforce return-to-office. It's been challenging for any leader, but communication has been hit-or-miss. It is common to hear one set of guidance during town halls/all-hands from Richard, and another from intermediate leaders. Creates unnecessary uncertainty that trickles down quickly and is demotivating.

- barriers to entry are high; I think of this place like an Ivy League - inaccessible and selective for the wrong reasons (ex. the referral model) - people who have been here “for life” tend to perpetuate the negative culture Edelman is known for - like lots of firms pay is low and hours are high; you’re expected to work at full capacity and if you don’t, people act like you’re not being productive - It’s a client over everything model - there’s a lot of senior staff this is preachy about taking breaks and time off while junior staff isn’t being paid a livable wage Edelman is like an exclusive club you want to get into and then you get in an realize it’s filled with nepotism and skating by on mediocrity