high turnover for a reason - Anonymous employee Venn Strategies Employee Review

- great culture - lots of mentorship

- not much PTO - work ebbs and flows, sometimes very intense othertimes slow

• Younger staff are the gems of this place. They’re fun, smart, and hard working. Many younger staff find close friends here. • Found some key mentors in the senior staff, although you must be careful who you trust. There are people who will advocate for you, and there are people who say they will and rat you out if you rant in confidence. • The pay is okay. It’s not bad for a lobbying firm, but it’s still hard to make ends meet if you’re living in DC as a young person. • The connections are good, especially if you’re interested in government and looking to stay in DC. Always be nice to everyone, not just because everyone deserves common decency and respect but also because everyone knows someone important. • It’s a relatively stable job- always expect to have work. There will always be opportunities to show your skills off to bosses and to learn new ones. You just have to be a fast learner and have incredible attention to detail. Lobbying requires you to look perfect to both in front of clients and legislative offices. Messing up, even if it’s on your first try, will be looked down upon.

• This firm is an unfortunate reflection of the white male power that has a death grip on Washington. From its clients (power hungry and obsessed w/ the bottom line) to the differences in the way they treat their staff (POC/BIPOC vs white, woman vs man, young vs old, rich vs poor, connected vs not), it operates just how you’d think a majority white, half-trump-voting corporate lobbying firm would operate. Any DEI initiatives, including their committee are mostly for show. Many minorities don’t last long here. Don't let them convince you that any part of this is mission-driven. It's all for money. • A LOT of work. Hard to balance and how/when to say no to projects when overworked. Many times, saying no isn’t really an option. Burnout is common. Some of the execs view their job as their whole life and aren’t very understanding of those who like having free time in the evenings/weekends. Colleagues and I felt surveilled during work hours, even when we were ahead on work. The 9-6 workday also sucks. Many lobbying firms now work 9-5 and are just as productive. • Ops staff is treated poorly. Underpaid, overworked, and unsupported by management. They help make the rest of the staff look perfect and don’t get a lot to show for it. • Rules (official and unspoken) are enforced differently depending on your title, how much management likes you, and seemingly at times your identity (race/gender/age/etc). WFH is 2x a week but some stay home more often. Work hours are 9-6 but some leave at arrive at 10 or leave at 3. The gym downstairs is a huge perk, and is encouraged for some employees but treated as an inappropriate use of time for others, even being highlighted in performance reviews. Some are constantly drowning in work, while others think their jobs are easy.