Pros
The Chicago office has a wonderful admin team and great snacks. If you live on the Near Northside of the city, it's an easy commute. Success on the consumer and corporate teams come down to luck of the draw. Should you luck into a good supervisor and get assigned to accounts with good client leads, you will gain experience on brands that look good on a resume - which increases your chances of going in-house and getting out of agency life. The healthcare team and their accounts pay the bills and keep the lights on. Weber's offices outside the U.S. work on actually interesting campaigns - and there is an internal program that could help you get a job in other offices. Benefits are exhaustive - parental leave, all sorts of insurance coverage options, a small monthly stipend to spend on health/wellness/learning.
Cons
As said above, professional success comes down to luck of the draw as pertains to both supervisor and assigned accounts. The Chicago office is notorious across the company for not abiding by account allocations / hours, especially for those on the media relations side of things. If you have a good supervisor they can advocate for you, but their influence depends on their title. Know of multiple instances where supervisors (usually those below the level of SVP ) are NOT asked for input regarding whether the people they supervise are let go or promoted. There's not a formal on-boarding or training process for new hires outside of HR, and it quickly turns into a "sink or swim" situation. Every account has a different process for everything including reporting, and you're excepted to learn on the fly. Everyone across the network is over-worked and when you ask for help or more support, you're shut down and labeled a problem. I've heard of people having 120% account allocations, working three 11-hour days in a row, working while sick with pneumonia. Seemingly everyone has a horror story. The Chicago office in particular is filled with client service account leads who have been at Weber for decades, and cling to their roles because they know their limited skill set isn't that desirable in the industry. They don't care about developing talent and prefer to hold on to the status quo. EVPs / SVPs either are working 24/7 or in the wind - you have to abide by their schedules (PTO, childcare hours, etc.). Teams are usually comprised of colleagues in different offices / timezones but account leads seldom take that into consideration when setting up meetings or deadlines. Office/Company leadership team is almost entirely white and consists of the most uncharismatic PR people in the biz. Like most large firms, it's a lot of jargon and not a lot action/ follow-through. Compensation is below industry standard, especially for the amount of work you're assigned.