Pros
Most other reviews noted the people. It was a very fun group when I was at SPARK and some of them really had my heart. Work with Passion is a serious thing for them, so you are surrounded by highly motivated creatives and project managers who do very cool stuff both in and out of the office. Everyone does care. Stand up/Creative review meetings at the surf board table are really collaborative and often fun. Healthcare benefits are pretty decent and perks, such as Friday Happy Hour and Spark Days are great times to socialize so that you like the people you work with. SPARK really does want to create great design work that doesn’t cut corners and is backed by solid concepts. I was excited about several of my projects and am proud of some of the work that resulted for our clients.
Cons
I was relieved to read the other reviews on here and see that their feelings were so similar to mine. For example, the room for forgiveness at SPARK is nearly non-existent. If you disagree one time, or you do something very minor, the CCO/founder is pretty much done with you, especially if he just doesn’t “like” you. Which can feel like a popularity contest. It's very disappointing how he chooses to handle disagreements or mistakes. Overall, there isn't much room for opinions outside of those from the upper management anyway. Several of my former co-workers left due in part to their inability to work with the “upstairs.” This isn’t a sentiment from one employee, its a trend that management should look at. The salaries are actually very low. I know a lot of employees complain that salaries at any company are low, but this his honestly true here. Salaries are at least 15% below that of other companies in the area. This is largely due to them hiring right out of school, so the starting salaries are really pitiful. The worse part, is it takes a very long time to get even a minor raise since there aren’t career paths. The lack of salary becomes even more frustrating when creatives are overextended and the appreciation doesn't match the level of sacrifice that they are asking for. I often found myself gipped of the applauds or recognition I deserved for good work. Often it was a handful of employees who were favored when, for such a small company, nearly everyone should feel essential and valuable.