Collectively Reviews

2.8

45% would recommend to a friend

(61 total reviews)

Ryan Stern

46% approve of CEO

51% positive business outlook

Collectively has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 61 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Collectively employee rating is 25% below average for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

61 reviews
1.0
15 Feb 2019

10/10 would not recommend

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good WFH policy, beautiful office, lots of REALLY amazing people, sometimes there's free stuff left over from sampling campaigns?

Cons

Senior management has the most backwards and selfish way of looking at things that I've seen at any company. Senior management does close to nothing in their day to day aside from piling on work for others. Middle management is also pretty awful. There is no management training in place aside from about 6 cumulative hours of going through power point decks. The management in general is honestly laughable. They have literally no idea what they are doing or how to manage and/or mentor junior staff members. The work life balance is virtually non-existent. You can log on to your computer at any time of night and expect to see the majority of your coworkers still online and emails will come in from teammates as late/early as 2am. Despite many complaints from many many team members, senior management continues to pile on projects that Collectively flat out doesn't have the man power to do. But hey, whatever puts more money in Execs' pockets! There is NO transparency and a TOTAL lack of appreciation for the staff. Huge decisions are made against popular opinion with rationale that is nothing but lies. This includes everything from cancelling holiday parties to executive members literally JUST DISAPPEARING and not being told where the person WHO HEADS YOUR TEAM has been for the last 5 days. Additionally, finding out that your manager has quit or been let go via email is standard practice. Finally, after all of the toxicity in the workplace that you have to deal with, the compensation doesn't even begin to make up for it. Staff is EXTREMELY underpaid, especially for the Bay Area and NYC. Salaries are laughable; the health benefits only meet ACA minimum standards; no other perks that could be considered standard from companies in the Bay Area/NYC (no wellness/gym benefit, no cell phone reimbursement, catered lunches only when a client shows up for a meeting)

1.0
28 Apr 2026

If you’re a POC look the other way

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Started going to therapy, which has been amazing.

Cons

Absolutely one of the worst places to work. You will likely feel undervalued, overwhelmed, and overworked. They present team culture and work-life balance as priorities during the interview process, but that was not my experience at all. The team culture felt very exclusionary. It was difficult to feel included, and it often felt like you were constantly trying to “fit in” without ever getting there. They have a DEI program, but I didn’t feel like they really put much energy or effort into it. Career growth here felt uneven. It seemed like some employees were overlooked, while at the same time being expected to take on more work than was realistic for one person to handle. The workload is heavy, constant, and very disorganized. There is a so-called “way of working,” but in practice, it involves a large number of templates and documents that do not necessarily make the work easier. Instead, they often slow things down and create unnecessary complexity. Leadership feels disconnected from the actual day-to-day work. There is a strong push for junior employees to produce more, without a clear understanding of capacity. Management tends to be passive-aggressive and micromanaging, without providing meaningful support. When things go well, it is framed as “we,” but when things go wrong, it becomes a “you” problem. Management communication sometimes happens in side conversations, which can make it feel like feedback about you is being shared without your knowledge. Many conversations are also moved to calls instead of written communication, making it harder to keep track of what was said. Feedback from management can be overly critical and frequent, without being constructive. This contributes to burnout rather than improvement. There are also a lot of false promises when it comes to perks. For example, summer Fridays are mentioned, but in reality are rarely honored due to workload and management expectations. The company is extremely client-first, to a fault. Employees and creators often feel like they come second. Clients are prioritized even in situations where their expectations are unreasonable or disrespectful. There have been instances where clients contact employees outside of working hours (nights & weekends), and instead of setting boundaries, the expectation is to accommodate them. This client's first approach also impacts creators. Payment terms are long, and timelines are often extremely tight. Creators are expected to produce content quickly, sometimes without having enough time to fully experience the products. Internally, these quick-turn campaigns are often assigned to one person with little support, making it difficult to execute successfully. Workplace communication can also be an issue. There are situations where coworkers speak to each other in ways that feel disrespectful. Raising these concerns does not always lead to resolution, and at times, it feels like behavior is allowed to continue. There have also been instances where employees are corrected or called out in front of clients, which can feel unprofessional and uncomfortable. There were other cases where I felt like my communication style was being policed if I didn’t respond to Slack with excitement and exclamation points. So it’s okay for coworkers to be rude, but not okay to speak normally without emojis. HR does not feel like a reliable support system. Interactions can feel one-sided, and it may be difficult to feel fully supported when raising concerns. If you speak up about concerns, they are often dismissed with surface-level positivity rather than real problem-solving. Over time, this becomes frustrating and discouraging. There is also a strong blame culture. When things go wrong, responsibility is placed on individuals rather than being addressed as a team issue. Mistakes from leadership are often overlooked, while employee mistakes are emphasized. Overall, this is a high-stress, disorganized environment that does not prioritize employee well-being. The focus is heavily on clients and company growth, often at the expense of the people doing the work.

1.0
16 Mar 2026

APPLY AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are no pros at all, honestly. Working this job felt like a nightmare I had to relive every single day.

Cons

I don’t even know where to begin. This was easily the worst job I’ve ever had. Working here often felt like pledging for a sorority or being part of a cult that I never agreed to join. If your skin tone or background doesn’t resemble leadership, expect your experience to be very different from others. There appears to be a strong preference for people who fit a certain “aesthetic,” and if you don’t, your work environment can quickly become uncomfortable. Raising concerns about discrimination or unfair treatment doesn’t improve the situation in some cases it leads to extreme micro management, quiet demotion, feedback meetings, being put on a performance plan, being fired (and they’ll try to tell your co-workers that you “left”), and/or being placed under managers who are notoriously toxic with multiple HR complaints. Leadership structure is also concerning. The CEO has immediate family members in senior leadership roles who have little to no prior experience in influencer marketing or related fields. Meanwhile, employees with real industry experience are often expected to train their teams and carry the workload without recognition or advancement unless they are personally favored. Titles don’t reflect actual responsibilities. If you’re hired as a junior employee, be prepared to perform the work of a Senior employee without proper training, while also being held to the same standard that Senior employees are held at. You may find yourself managing full campaigns independently while being held to unrealistic expectations of perfection. There are also psychological tactics leadership uses with junior employees, particularly the ones they don’t favor. You’ll often be encouraged to take on work far beyond your role with promises that successfully running multiple campaigns on your own will lead to a promotion. However, if even one minor mistake occurs during the process, that single mistake is later used to justify why you’re “not ready” for advancement. It creates a situation where employees are pushed to do senior-level work without the support, training, pay, or recognition that should come with it, while their favorites are able to make those same mistakes and get rewarded with promotions, raises, and nice brand trips. Another issue is accountability. Concerns raised with leadership are often acknowledged verbally over Zoom calls, but rarely documented in writing or followed through on. This creates a pattern where solutions are promised but never implemented. It’s also worth noting that Glassdoor reviews appear to be scrubbed. Many of the reviews that told the truth are no longer here, and the positive reviews seem to come from leadership or employees who were favored. For others, the experience can be drastically different. Personally, working here had a serious impact on my mental health. I genuinely hope this review remains up, because people deserve transparency before considering applying.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 61 Reviews

Glassdoor has 69 Collectively reviews submitted anonymously by Collectively employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Collectively is right for you.