|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Oct 8th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
Account Director
|
New York, NY
|
|
Oasis from crazy catty NYC PR firms
|
|
I don't even know where to start with this one. It's been an absolute night and day from my previous agency experiences in NYC. The biggest difference being that you immediately walk in the door and see that they're real, no-BS, genuine people. You feel supported by management and are given the tools to succeed (and I try and reciprocate that with junior team members as well!). Some great highlights about working here:
Clients - always launches and news, which means journalists actually value getting your pitches
People - no a**holes, no cliques, and also no pressure to be someone you're not. If you're a social butterfly, that's awesome; if you prefer to keep your head down and be a pitching machine, they love that too
Office - great part of town and easy access to subway (pre pandemic days haha)
Perks - seamless lunch when you're in the office! Sometimes also Elliot (the founder) brings in his adorable dog
Culture - the team is so funny and great to be around. Even during stay-at-home, everyone continues to keep spirits high with fun banter on slack or fun Zoom happy hours. You can tell everyone cares about everyone's happiness
|
I feel like the downsides to the job are just the downsides that come with being in PR. Sometimes you have a bunch of client announcements in the same month, so there's some extra effort and extra hours. The only thing I'd add is that a 401K could be a great perk to include in the benefits!
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
2.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
Continue to meet with employees and take in their individual thoughts and needs for their career progression.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Oct 7th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
Senior Account Executive
|
New York, NY
|
|
Avoid At All Costs...
|
|
Daily lunch stipend. This perk hasn't gone away since ASTRSK requires its employees to come into the office during a pandemic. Free lunch means you are tied to your desk at all times, no breaks.
|
-ASTRSK is the ER, all the time it's unnecessary urgency and scrambling for clients
-Clients come and go ALL the time. They usually only sign on with ASTRSK for a funding round or product launch, after the announcement is over the client will immediately fire the agency. It's extremely hard to build any type of relationship when clients are signed on for such a short period of time.
Upper management keeps retainers and other viable information from the team who is managing the account. You're pitching blindly without knowing how to manage expectations and work scope.
Upper management encourages the team to lie and mislead clients on media coverage and interest. Clients always figure it out and fire the agency. ASTRSK has a terrible reputation in the PR and media space. I even know journalists who won't cover any client news that comes from the agency
All the agency does is pitch. There is absolutely no creative process or review or writing involved. I've been doing the same thing every day for over a year and have not learned or developed as I had hoped I would.
The agency fires talented team members if they don't kiss up to upper management. They wrongfully treated Black people and other POC. There is no diversity and everyone is in fear of speaking up about these issues as they might get fired without warning.
You aren't allowed to leave the office at all during the day. You are expected to respond to clients emails/slack messages in under 5 minutes. The responses are so rushed and extremely sloppy that clients have complained in the past.
Upper management wants to be in control (or at least feel like they are). They only hire very junior team members straight out of college and have no idea how PR works. Very little senior hires are made as upper management can get jealous of their relationships and experience
No work life balance. You're expected to respond to emails/calls at all hours and work weekends. This is not a place for a young parent or someone who appreciates work not consuming everything.
Extremely low pay and toxic work environment. Since leaving ASTRSK I'm making over 40k more. They barely give raises or promotions and if they do, it's extremely small
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
DISAPPROVE
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
Restructure everything, it's not working.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Sep 21st, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
Account Director
|
New York, NY
|
|
Where to learn + grow in PR
|
|
- A real AHOD-style team: every team member is fully involved in each account -- from AAEs to Account Directors
- You make your job your own: because there is no corporate hierarchy, no matter how junior you are, you're encouraged to brainstorm, present ideas, join calls with client company founders/CEOs, pitch, etc.
- No PR BS: no smoke and mirrors, we tell our clients as it is, and they like us for that. we're not "yes men" -- we're going to say what's up and provide the truth as well as the strategic counsel we're paid for even if it's not what the client wants to hear
- Awesome clients: founder/EVP are super picky when it comes to which clients they sign on, not only in terms of the product or service, but also in terms of the person the team will work with because they value relationships
- Work/life balance: "it's PR, not the ER" is something I've heard said about 1,000 times and it's so great to work somewhere that understands the importance of staying grounded and prioritizing work/life balance in one of the most stressful industries
|
- Some late nights/early mornings (depending on clients in different time zones, but this is real life work so this is as expected)
- Expectation to be on your A game at all times (again, something that's definitely expected in PR: good listening, multitasking and time management skills all a must)
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
2.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Sep 4th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
|
United States
|
USA
|
Work hard + be open minded = awesome place to work
|
|
- Collaborative teams: everyone is always sharing information, brainstorming ideas, passing along media leads across teams
- Motivated and eager employees that work hard: it is clear that everyone is dedicated to working hard for their clients and each person brings something strong/different to the table
- Strong (and growing) client list: impressive growth (even during the pandemic)
- Feel good clients: many clients have a social good component, plus a pro-bono client (must be a startup that is founded by a female, POC, or LGBTQ+) that the whole agency works
- Free lunch: stipend for each day in the office (currently in office 2 days/WFH 3 days a week)
- Solid PTO & work/life balance: management has been flexible and accommodating for all PTO request. Summer/Winter Fridays, rarely work late
|
Just like any agency, you have to be ready for anything. You might have a tough client request or a busy day/week, but it comes with the territory. Since the agency is on the smaller side, you might have your hand in a little bit of everything. If you're open to putting in the hard work, you'll see growth opportunities, but you have to want it!
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Sep 1st, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
|
United States
|
USA
|
the agency only cares about $$ - get out
|
|
- paid lunch in the office
- company uber
- coworkers generally support one another and don’t feel the need to compete. collaborative environment is awesome
- culture used to be great - drinks after work in the office, jokes, music, manicures, bday parties, celebrations for promotions, etc. etc. quite honestly, this has all disintegrated. the culture is completely gone, even after they pressured everyone into going back into the office
|
- client turnover
- employee turnover
- encouragement to "manifest" - aka lie to clients
- importance of media "friendlies" - people who you are forced to meet up with that never actually provide value for clients
- little to no effort behind diversity and inclusion
- completely inconsistent method of managing staff - i was promoted to snub other people, and saw colleagues get put on probation with KPIs everyone knows they won't reach (during the pandemic!!), etc. etc.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
0.0
|
NO_OPINION
|
5.0
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
2.0
|
5.0
|
3.0
|
1.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
this could be a lot longer but it's not worth it. start caring more about your agency & its reputation than the bank account. don't make your staff feel so uncomfortable that they feel forced to go back to the office in the middle of a global pandemic. hire people of color. try to retain clients rather than continuing to sign more.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Aug 12th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
Account Manager
|
New York, NY
|
|
Great place for hustlers
|
|
- Free lunch when in the office (which the teams are two-three days a week) up to $21 every day. Literally unheard of!
- Fun, exciting, collaborative and diverse culture and team. Everyone really lifts each other up here, sharing media contacts, pitching friendlies for other teams, etc. It's really cool to see and be apart of
- The client roster keeps getting more and more exciting, just recently took a company public and the EVP/CEO are going out of their way to try and find up and coming companies with big potential, funding rounds and disruptive business models
- They've been putting everyone's needs, concerns and levels of comfortableness during the pandemic which we've all really appreciated
- I've seen colleagues struggle and the management team will dedicate a lot of time and effort to help that person get back on track, it's refreshing to see people care that much.
|
ASTRSK isn't for everyone – we work hard and fast, we get our hands dirty and make things happen. Sometimes the pace is too fast for people or they would feel more comfortable with more "structure" and I totally understand that. However, if you thrive in an environment where you get to be creative and not forced to be a PR robot, ASTRSK will push you and help you grow.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
Keep being authentically ASTRSK
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Jun 22nd, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
Communications
|
United States
|
USA
|
A sinking ship in flames
|
|
- Daily lunch stipend (that doesn't exist anymore since we're remote)
- Laptop (that's old, laggy and has been passed around probably 10x before I got to it)
- $$ for reporter dates (that everyone runs tabs on bc hey, free meals at Nobu? why not!)
- No writing test!!! (because being a good writer means nothing here)
|
Stay away! Astrsk has no money! And has a terrible rep among the PR/media pros.
- Clients are firing them ALWAYS. High turnover, low retainers.
- High turnover in staff too. Low pay, pay cuts, hold on raises, crappy holiday bonus, etc. the CEO rather spend his $$ on swag, schmoozing clients and media.
- CEO has his favorites and his priorities are clearly not focused on the agency that he's built. He's too focused on "being weird" and makes the team send silly pitches dubbed as "creative" to reporters because it's "on brand"
- Upper management is spread thin, covering up for all of the junior staff's mistakes and will also follow up with you within a minute if you don't answer slacks or email.
- Team structure = mess. Sloppy trackers and lists. Sending clients our pitch drafts and media lists, and pretty much being "yes men" even though something might be out of scope. Oh, you'll actually never know retainer sizes or scopes so you're just blindly pitching.
- You're expected to answer a client email immediately after it comes in. Responses are super rushed and rarely thoughtful. Also, the team is encourage to lie to clients about media conversations and anticipated coverage.
- Most of the team is fresh out of college with little-to-no experience and I feel bad because THIS is their first intro to PR. Sad!
- Internally, we all talk about how miserable it is here and everyone on staff are scrambling to find a new job but everyone covers it up with a "xoxo i love it here!"
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
DISAPPROVE
|
6.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
Restructure everything and invest in your employees. Take a step back and see what's working, what's not, etc.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Jan 16th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
Account Executive
|
United States
|
USA
|
Fun culture + coworkers, Wild West of PR (for better or worse)
|
|
Lunch allowance every day!!!! On top of that, though, it is a small (but not too small) team that is pretty diverse and fun to work with. There are always fun extra perks, always a fully stocked bar, and the cultural vibe is just overall friendly and party-centric. The client list consists of a lot of really cool startups, and you're encouraged to be yourself and bring your unique personality to pitching and client relations. Really got to go home at 6pm most days. Also the office is in a cool neighborhood. Working here at the beginning of my career was good because I was challenged to learn fast and given more responsibility than someone at my level would get at a big agency. Promotions happen quicker than other places as a result. The small team + little formal resources led to a "scrappy" work style which I really liked - pitching was more about results than about process.
|
I know these reviews can be really subjective and emotion-driven, so I'm going to state some things I observed that I personally viewed as cons and what ultimately led me to leave. Top of the list is that at my lowest I was on 8 accounts, at my height i was on 12, and my team of 4 was expected to fully service all of them with a full scope. There is no transparency or visibility on the lower levels into new business pitching or retainers, so I would often hear about a company for the first time the day before we kicked off with them. I never knew what each clients retainer looked like, so didn't have a clear picture of how I needed to prioritize clients. We were often encouraged to stretch the truth in "merchandising" our comms with clients to cover for the fact that we weren't actually servicing them as much as we should have been because we were busy servicing 11 other accounts as well. In the 1.5 years I was there, multiple professional development programs were kicked off and none of them lasted more than 2 months, most likely because of the high turnover rate in employees. By my 9th month, I was the longest standing employee apart from the founder, VP and EA. Client turnover is just as frequent - some may like this project-based pace of only usually being with a client for 4-5 months tops though. There is no dedicated HR employee and although there is an employee handbook, there is no clear enforcement and severity of discipline is more reliant on how much the founder likes you than on what you actually did. When I was promoted, I found out by it being announced to the whole office at once and my salary was changed without having a discussion or giving me the opportunity to negotiate.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
0.0
|
NEUTRAL
|
|
|
2.0
|
3.0
|
3.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
3.0
|
3.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
I feel like every time I brought up concerns or shared my need for more resources to better service clients or questioned how many clients we were taking on, I was told that "this is just how PR is, you'll find this at every agency" instead of having my concerns seriously considered or addressed. The rate of client and employee turnover here isn't normal - listening to and addressing why can help curb that. Also don't say anything behind someone's back that you wouldn't say to their face because your employees do talk to each other. I love the spirit and tenacity of ASTRSK, I just wish there was a bit more structure and focus on making it a sustainable place to work.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Jan 4th, 2020 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
Account Director
|
New York, NY
|
|
Loved ASTRSK!
|
|
ASTRSK is such a great place to work for many reason. First and foremost, you will learn and grow so fast here. I’ve learned more in my first month than I have in 2 years at previous agencies. You have a lot of autonomy and get to work with some of the best start-ups in tech and lifestyle. Aside from the work, the culture is amazing - Elliot, the founder and CEO, really encourages you to take risks and is easy to talk to if you ever have an issue or question. You also get really great perks like paid lunch, fun company outings, office snacks, and so much more. If you’re thinking of coming to ASTRSK, just do it!
|
Nothing specific to ASTRSK, but sometimes with PR, you work with difficult clients and have crazy client deadlines/projects, etc. but that always passes.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
|
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
Continue fostering the environment you took time to build - it’s so rare in PR to have a healthy office environment and ASTRSK nails it.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|
|
private:astrsk
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=1044531
|
Jul 14th, 2019 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Astrsk PR
|
Account Executive
|
United States
|
USA
|
Great agency with awesome culture and room for growth
|
|
ASTRSK is a great place to work and grow your PR career. Everyone is extremely involved and given many opportunities to collaborate and interact with media – very hands on! Everyone is encouraged to be themselves and bring their originality to their work. Company culture is awesome, happy hours, office retreats, free lunches and more. Such a solid agency to be at that cares about work life balance!
|
Sometimes working outside of typical business hours, but this is standard in all of PR culture and found at every agency.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
|
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
1044531
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Jan 8th, 2021 12:05AM
|
Astrsk
|
Consumer Services
|
Media
|