Pros
TMP was a great experience because as far as agencies go - they did have adequate training around their TalentBrew platform along with traditional advertising service offerings. If you were the type to introduce yourself and become engaged - your expertise could really soar. I had the opportunity to meet great people, work with large clients and travel. All in all, people are great to work with and a very flexible culture exists, as long as you perform and meet one's deadlines. The Digital Strategist trips were fun, engaging and a real concerted effort to better the performance of all involved and move the company in the right direction was consistently shown. The TalentBrew platform with its 2.0 version is substantially better than the previous - but only beneficial if a client can afford the Cadillac price in perpituity and understands the value of a comprehensive web presence. TMP did update its product as fast as it could based on usability assessments which despite sometimes being an esoteric process was commendable. TMP Labs, their R&D arm was highly expert in providing new technologies within the recruitment space and easily the only outfit in the industry that provided such a level of future thought.
Cons
When you try and be a product based company and an advertising agency at the same time it 's only natural that the negative effects of someone with a split personality would shine through. So, if I owned a software or SaaS company I would have a true SaaS modeled commerce site, a team of inside sales, regional and national account teams, biz dev ,etc. - with attainable sales goals. Non of that exists. The one downside is my hiring manager extended an offer knowing that the Chicago office (struggling market) did not bonus in 6 years - a red flag I did not realize until I started and somewhat disingenuous from management. Negotiate high up front. The bonus details are so lofty that if you came from a sales commission background you wouldn't believe it. It can also be used against you in the future. The space itself is heavily commoditized with many players and many clients do not understand the nuances of the platform and the value it serves vs competing products. The result is price reduction - affecting one's attainment of bonus. Creatively - it wasn't very strong and I blame the recruitment space. Web design and UX standards were not uniform and ideation from campaign POV's was minimal. There was decent talent in Chicago but creative styles and campaign sophistication varied greatly from coast to coast. No comment about turnover since its an agency and is common in the industry. The benefits are not good and no match on the 401K.