 Lebhar Friedman, Inc. Interview Surveys
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Job Title: Production Coordinator
Location: New York, NY
Submitted on: 25-Apr-05
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| Production Coordinator |
Complacency is confused with dedication at this company. This isn't the
case for everyone I worked with, but a significant percentage of those
whom I encountered fell into this category. Most of the people working in
this sterile office have been with the company for at least a decade.
They are the "elite" and therefore are allowed to slack off quite a bit.
This was confirmed by an executive, who said that those who were "older"
and had been with the company for a number of years were given a bit of
free reign. These same people have built up a few months worth of
vacation, and they take it, leaving the new saps to slog through the work.
This translates to often having to compensate for your superiors lack of
effort. Quite a few will put on a good show, staying late, coming in
early, etc. But, in talking with current and former employees in my
situation, there was a consensus that all these long hours logged were
really filled with long phone conversations with friends, family, playing
solitaire and reorganization of their various packrat piles.
This is a corporate environment, so one must dress up. The men must wear
ties and the women must wear comparably "suited-up" clothing, but without
having to wear a suit. However, once again those who have been at the
company for more than ten years disregard this entirely, wearing
t-shirts, leggings, platform flip-flops and sundry fashion abominations.
I have a good sense of style and never wear revealing clothing, yet I
have been talked to about my choice of clothing because it is not in the
vein of grey-suit corporate America.
The hours are very regular in the production department. However, I have
heard that those in the various properties' editorial departments
regularly stay past midnight. This isn't because of a pressing deadline,
but incompetence according to those who have been there; that or one of
the team members will go out (regularly) for a few hours during the day
without consideration for the imminent deadline for the publication and
the resulting delay that their daytime departure has caused. I had also
heard of one certain high-ranking editor that was fond of staying
late--wasting time during the day--so he could order dinner, put the tab
on the company and have a car-service take him home. The underlings must
stay too, but they don't get fed or driven home.
On the topic of the president and CEO - he was born into the publishing
company that his father and his father's business partner started.
However, because he's there in his corner office most months of the year,
it's considered a "family" company. Family-run to be sure, but
family-like I think not. He loves the company's Park Avenue address,
which costs a small fortune in rent I'm sure. However, rather than move
to a locale which is more rent-friendly he chooses to stay put, as he
believes it carries cache to his various investors. So, the healthcare
costs continue to rise, and the healthcare plans are reviewed (and
sometimes changed) each year (becoming more and more obscure), resulting
in employees having to switch doctors almost annually.
This same owner is a HUGE fan of baseball, and as such there is an annual
softball outing in the early summer. This is a very political event and
if you can play, it saves you hours of brown-nosing. For those of us who
have other interests, well, it doesn't matter; it's a family-owned
company and you should like baseball.
As far as diversity goes, there are people of every color working at the
company, but I would say that the mentality is not particularly diverse.
One that has opinions that aren't found in the "New York Post" is looked
at a bit strangely. Which is to say, I didn't find much intellectual
stimulation amongst my colleagues. They are settled at their workplace,
and whatever energy they might have is devoted to pursuits (if there are
any) outside of the office. I found myself keeping quiet more times than
not, and when asked a point blank question requiring an opinion, toning
down my response to the degree that it was anyman's, as experience taught
me that my opinion wasn't the norm, and anything out of the norm wasn't
viewed as valid.
As far as opportunities for advancement go it depends on your department.
I've heard that it takes at least two years to get a promotion, but once
you're on the promotion roll it keeps going. Then there are other
departments where you could be working your heart and soul and won't
budge an inch in title.
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