Great Place to work - Executive Assistant Omega Broadcast Group Employee Review

I worked for Omega Broadcast & Cinema for over four years. Omega is centered around the cinema and broadcast production industries which means it has the same intense pace of production. If you have never worked in that industry, the culture shock can really get to you. Omega may be only a reseller and rental house, but the clientele are guys and gals that work in the trenches in production. Basically, the best laid plans always get changed, and some times very last minute. That is just what the lifestyle of production is all about. If you are not ready for it, it can and will eat your lunch. Never take anything personally in production. Changes to plans will always happen and you have to stay cool about it. Be ready! That is the life! If you are a flexible person that is willing to learn fast, this is the place for you. If you are looking for a job that is easy and will take very little personal growth commitment, this is not for you. You need to have a “suck it up” mindset and a “learn to learn” skillset. There is a lot to learn about the manufacturers, clients and the leadership style of Omega that is central to what you do here. You will grow a lot if you want to. Be very aware, Omega runs more like a production than a corporate office. I repeat: If you have never been around production, you might be a little shell shocked in the beginning. There are a lot of unspoken rules and a lot more terminology that you will need to be familiar with than other design positions. You are marketing and designing for a very complex and precise industry. NEVER GET OFFENDED that you have to make changes. You need to be grateful for the feedback! It will be very helpful to your success! THE DETAILS MATTER! Owners: Both of them care about their employees very much and I have seen them over the years bend over backwards to offer help and flexibility to everyone. But be real, you need to bring you’re “A” game and be agile. As for myself, I endured some of the toughest days of my life while at Omega (both personally and professionally), but I can honestly say that the owners have been very good to me. In fact, it was hard for me to put in my resignation because I have so much freedom to be creative in my position and I know they support my work. I appreciate them very much for all of the great design opportunities and the trust they put in me to represent their image. They have allowed me to grow as a designer and it paid off for them and for me! Employees: These people are good people. Trust them and what they tell you. They will have great advice on how to acclimate and make your transition into the team as smooth as possible. There is by necessity a ton of tribal knowledge that only they know. That said, also be ready to be independent and still get things done on day one. There can be a little bit of culture shock when you first come on staff. Everyone here has ambition to be better each day and improve Omega, themselves, and customer experience. All “long timers” have figured out ways to fit into the grooves of how to get this done. Pay attention and learn the pace. We are all in this together. Make battlefield buddies. There are seasons that are fast paced and challenging, rely on their experience and you’ll sail right through the grind. Clients: Omega has amazing and wonderful customers. Though I cannot disclose all of them here, Omega sells and rents to pretty big names in broadcast and cinema all over the world. They do everything: sports arenas, churches, esports, film, video, news, documentaries, corporate, government, schools, colleges and more. There is a lot of diversity. Brands: I love the manufacturer reps and the brands they represent. The reps I have gotten to know are amazing and know their stuff. You can learn a lot from them, but they also expect a lot from you. Show some respect and get it right back. They live and work in this industry, too. They know production is often super stressful and unplanned. Acknowledge your common ground and you will get along great. Do what you say you will do for them and they will love you forever. And always remind them that tacos and bbq make good friendships, lol. My advice as a designer for Omega: Do good work--your best work. Out of all of the places I have designed for, Omega has allowed me the most growth and opportunity to work with high end brands that designers dream of getting their mitts on! RED, Sony, Panasonic, SXSW, Zeiss, NAB, CineGear, etc. have been such a pleasure to work on. Man, what an opportunity! IT IS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY! You got this!

Because this is a production minded company, if you are not ready to live on the edge of your seat and hurry up and wait all the time, you might struggle. There is no weak sauce at Omega. This is not a cushy corporate job. You will have to submit to authority and learn to help them get to their destination, and that destination can change very quickly. You have to be nimble and flexible daily more than other design jobs. However, you get more opportunities than other design jobs. Additionally, at times, there is so much going on, you have to be overly organized to keep everything most important floating to the top. And you will have to hold yourself accountable to get your projects approved. You are the one that has to drive in that area. Learn to love it. You will have to accept that you will never fully catch up and that is okay. It is sometimes like working in full time production mode with no nap at the end. Think of it more like surfing: you are either riding the wave, paddling to the next wave, or wiped out. Ride the wave as much as you can and always be ahead of the next one.

Employ lots of people with good knowledge of the industry and gear. Wide selection of goods and services. Pay and benefits are ok and management is mostly flexible when it comes to adjusting schedule.

Lack of accountability stemming from upper management. This is a family business and it shows. Lots of favoritism, laziness and poor work ethic goes unpunished while everyone is expected to pick up the slack. It's a little better if you're in direct sales but god help you if you're in any sort of administrative role. People are hired almost entirely due to word of mouth so no vetting is done which leads to poor hiring choices. Excessive micromanagement that slows all processes down so everything gets done late or last second and it shows. Because of this, everyone goes behind management's back to get things done which means no one knows what's going on at any time and key people get held out of the loop. Tasks will be assigned to you that are outside of your job description constantly so most people are overworked and scattered. It's not surprising that the turnover rate is high because the good people get burned out within a matter of months. A very unorganized and frustrating place to work at.