Canstar Reviews

Pros

Good work-life balance, good leadership, and great working conditions

Cons

Only real con due to the size of the company, career progression maybe limited

Pros

Free breakfast and people are friendly for the most part. The office spaces are nice even though they get noisy. There is a team to blame most of the time but if its not the most likeable person complaining no one does anything to stop it. I reckon everything will go well for you if you keep your head down and get through until you can get a good job. Don't let the great place to work ads fool you.

Cons

No real potential for career progression Low pay Low-intellect micromanagers No real training or development unless your a graduate in finance Incompetent digital Everyone sticks to their own teams and complains about the others Outlook doesn't look good

Advice to Management

What's the point? You have no idea what is going on.

Pros

For the most part I enjoyed my time here. The work and major projects are, for the most part, interesting. The people you work with will become your friends and there is a lively atmosphere with something always going on, so socially you are never bored. Most (Stress, most) people are easy to get along with and collegiate, making cross-team cohesion good. The office spaces are bright, comfortable and clean,... and the company opened floor 22 at the right time as floor 21 was bursting at the seams with staff overflow. When staff from another building moved back to 143 Turbot there were some cultural clashes, but most issues have been ironed out. You will likely become more financially literate working here, which is a plus. Many people have gone from intern - casual - full time fairly quickly, giving graduates an opportunity. This makes for an incredibly young workforce, but still, the opportunities are there. If you can drown out the noise (both literally and figuratively) and just focus on your work, you will likely have a great time here.

Cons

Employer 1: Are there any genuine promotion opportunities or staff retention efforts? The turnover rate seems kinda high. Canstar: Did you say ‘free pizza’? Employer 2: What about a good paternity leave policy? Canstar: There are ‘subsidised’ massages Employer 3: I want to negotiate my salary without it being a painstaking process Canstar: Be quiet and eat your Birthday Morning Tea sausage roll Employer... 4: I feel like the goal sheet process could be quicker and less rigid. Canstar: Sounds like you’re begging for a ‘2’ in your ‘Cultural Contribution’ rating Employer 5: Salaries seem a little low compared to similar companies, what gives? Canstar: PING PONG TABLE Employer 6: What about genuine training opportunities so I can upskill and be a better member of the team? Canstar: We have, like, 3-hour digital marketing conferences, remember to get your coffee order in and LinkedIn photo for it! You get the picture.

Advice to Management

Ask yourselves why turnover rate is so high, it's incredible. The free food and other fringe 'benefits' only go so far with employee satisfaction

Pros

It’s very social, some incredible managers (in the wider marketing team, not sure about other departments), and if you have a solid manager like I had you will have clear career progression. You can also choose the training path you want to go down with budget allocated for conferences and training. Would recommend Canstar as a great place to work!

Cons

Very ROI focused, which can sometimes impact innovation.

Pros

There are great immediate benefits for employees - free breakfast, half price massages, fresh fruit, birthday leave and being allowed to take a longer lunch break to go to the gym. Every new employee attends an induction day to learn about other areas of the business and also a "New Starters Lunch"with other new starters and with the executives. A monthly staff update is held (with pizza) where different areas of... the business present what has been happening, There are often small events organised to celebrate recent wins and regular staff drinks and Social Club events. The HR and Executive teams are doing a lot to drive a cultural shift and more emphasis is being placed on how you meet your targets and not just whether you met them. More money is being spent on training and developing employees and all managers attend a "new leader"course. They are also implementing more initiatives for employee health (both physically and mentally) and are constantly asking for suggestions on what else they can do. There are a lot of opportunities to develop skills, quite often internships lead to casual positions while studying which then lead to full time graduate positions after graduation.

Cons

While there are policies in place these are rarely enforced and there are no consequences for poor behavour especially if you are lower in the pecking order than the person behaving poorly. Having previously worked at a large company where all employees were held accountable for their behaviour, regardless of position or salary, so it is hard to accept it at Canstar. I don't agree with the previous reviews in... regards to the company being a 'boys club' but there is a feeling of nepotism/favouritism where members of staff feel that bias is shown towards family members of management and promotions are not based on skill contibution to the company but who the managers or execs like more. There is also a large drinking culture in the company, and although you aren't forced to drink, there are staff members who clearly should not be drinking but are not discouraged from doing so and other employees do their best to avoid those people at social events. Because Canstar likes to promote from within and hires a lot of graduates it sometimes feel like there is not a lot of experience within the company.

Advice to Management

Continue to develop staff but also don't be afraid to enforce policies. Make sure everyone is treated with the same level of respect and is held to accountability for their behaviour.

Pros

I work in IT at Canstar and am approaching my 3rd month. Can hands down say Canstar is a great place to work, from the beers at 4pm on a Friday to the great co workers, monthly massages and occasional morning brekfasts/lunches held. Aside from the great culture, the work amount is spot on - not too much to be stressed, but not too little to be looking to kill time. Also a pro that Canstar are willing to invest into... you and your studies, and are happy to help you learn other skills at your time here.

Cons

The office temperature swings alot, I tend to keep a jumper at my desk just in case.

Advice to Management

My direct manager is great, she mentors me and helps me learn the skills I need to do for certain tasks - even though sometimes im completely lost being new she is very helpful and patient. The executives are honestly great leaders in the business, especially coming from a company where if you'd pass an exec you'd try and turn the other way. Great that the execs are so friendly and approachable, will even get a beer... in with you on a Friday afternoon

Pros

Canstar has a positive and personal culture. Nearly all employees are friendly and encouraging. Canstar also has plenty of little perks that make work fun, such as birthday morning teas, celebratory lunches and cheap massages. Canstar also offers a great work-life balance and is usually pretty flexible with alternative working arrangements.

Cons

The remuneration is unimpressive and there is no real possibility of career progression. The company is disorganised and lacks foresight - as an example, employees are currently spread across two neighbouring buildings after we ran out of room in our first building. The small business culture at Canstar is also rapidly declining and there is an air of elitism, particularly among executives.

Advice to Management

Management should realise that while the little perks are nice, they are relatively superficial if employees don't feel respected in other regards, particularly remuneration and promotion opportunity.

Pros

Free breakfast, established company and strong branding in the industry will provide the opportunity to further your career, coworkers were pleasant and helpful

Cons

Outdated time consuming processes are a hindrance to progressing work efficiently, uncompensated long working hours, employees are promoted based on tenure, not talent, boys’ club culture, nonexistent HR

Advice to Management

Your employees are your best brand ambassadors. Bad word of mouth marketing spreads like wildfire.