Pros
From the minute I walked into the office and was interviewing with my soon-to-be bosses, I knew I wanted to work at Faction. I was told at the beginning that Faction is one of 2 or 3 agencies in Denver to work at. Although at the time I had no experience in the agency world in Denver or otherwise, I believe this to be true. I don't know what it's like out there, but it's great in here. I'm surrounded by talented, dedicated and smart people who genuinely care about the quality of the product. We do work hard, and play hard, but there is usually a great balance here as well. There are late nights, but those are the exception to the rule. You're asked to give your time and energy and talent, and in return, you can learn and grow professionally if you want. I can definitely say that I work with friends. And the clients? They're demanding, like they are in every profession where you're being paid for a service. And when they're being too demanding, you have a supportive team around you from the director level down that cares and will listen -- and do what they can to fix it.
Cons
Compensation is relatively flat; I've been given raises based on merit, but I know that I could potentially make more elsewhere. Generous 401k matching is somewhat outweighed by health benefits that could be cheaper for the employee. The biggest issue facing Faction is one faced by many in this business: penny-pinching and fears of layoffs (that almost never do come true) due to the cyclical and tumultuous nature of advertising. While I understand that getting paid for work done 90 days ago will put a squeeze on your available cash, it can be nerve-wracking as an employee to see that happening and feel mostly powerless to do anything about it. I would love for Faction to be more confident as an agency when dealing with (some) clients; we're here for our expertise, and that's not always valued or even listened to and that can be incredibly frustrating.