Civilian Reviews

4.0

73% would recommend to a friend

(27 total reviews)

Stacey Nelson Smith

76% approve of CEO

71% positive business outlook

Civilian has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 27 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Civilian employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

27 reviews
1.0
15 Oct 2024

STAY AWAY!!!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- free snacks and drinks - loose hybrid policy.

Cons

- HIGH turnover rate/ a lot of fires: The amount of terminations specifically for the media team has been extremely high. In one year there was 4 terminations between media supervisor to media director positions. The media team even lost an amazing employee to another department and ultimately another company. There are high turn over rates across almost all departments. People come and go within the first few months…. And that says something if multiple people start then quit a couple months later (over and over again). They will fire you if you are not aligned with the bigger picture and you want to have your own thoughts. They will fire you if you have any say that is different. They say they welcome change but you are ostracized for it if you voice your thoughts. - management: Stacey has one thing in mind and that is to make sure that everyone does as she says. She doesn’t welcome ANY change. - TOXIC work atmosphere: anyone that says it’s the best company ever or an amazing company to work for has drunk the Kool-Aid. When I was there they demanded people be signed on from 8:30am to 5:00 pm ON THE DOT…. Micromanaging is everywhere. People want to know what you’re doing every minute of everyday. They watch you like a hawk. And the whole “work from anywhere” thing is a MAJOR LIE!!! You have to jump through hoops to get that approved and you also have to work the same time zone (not very conducive if you’re working in another country). - LOW pay: if you want to be paid adequately go somewhere else!!! I got paid $10K more for a fully remote position with the same responsibility and job title. No training or upward mobility. This is a place where you do the same thing until something better comes along. Do you yourself a favor and stay away from this company!!!!

3.0
20 Apr 2025

Drink the Kool-Aid or Hit the Road

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fun social culture. Lots of free after work activities, department lunches & summer friday’s

Cons

Civilian on the outside appears to stand firm in their values and mission, like strengthening lives, helping others & making a difference. However, they do not truly care about their employees, their mental health or well being. You are strictly a means to an end for them. Lower level employees are overworked, under paid and under appreciated. Most employees at Civilian are extremely unhappy & believe the work place is toxic, but don’t speak up as they know they won’t be heard. When doing quarterly employee engagement reviews, certain comments are cherry picked by leadership to display the agency is a good light, while the important, negative comments are pushed aside and ignored. Employees do not feel heard as their concerns are continually discounted, not acknowledged and do not get addressed. Terminations happen left and right at this agency. Performance improvement plans are given to employees, but before they even have a chance to improve, they are fired. There is no time to turn things around, as they have already decided your fate when they put you on the plan. The leadership team pretends to be open to feedback and suggestions, but the second you go against the grain and try to suggest something they disagree with, you are ignored and shut down. Leadership is extremely rigid and inflexible when it comes to making exceptions or altering policies to take a human first approach and show compassion to its employees.

2.0
17 Apr 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Nice office space and free parking - Free snacks and beverages - Certified B Corp - Mostly friendly coworkers

Cons

- Senior leadership for the most part is incompetent and clueless about problems within the agency - Toxic work environment, people get thrown under the bus constantly - Lack of new business success, consistently losing new business pitches and clients - Inability to upsell clients and expand partnerships - Lack of synergy between media, creative and account departments - Lack of investment in software/tools that make job more efficient - Terrible billing process that eats up time and restricts opportunities to partner with best vendors - Inconsistencies across the board as it relates to media planning, communication, client service, etc. - Investment in AWFUL software tools that make job miserable (WORKAMAJIG, dashboards, market research, etc.)

Viewing 1 - 3 of 27 Reviews

Glassdoor has 29 Civilian reviews submitted anonymously by Civilian employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Civilian is right for you.