Pros
- Training: for a marketer, P&G is hands down the best training ground. The pedigree you get from P&G will open many many doors down the road not only in CPG but also outside. Its training program is structured and they drill the framework in you better than my MBA training. - Ethical: the company is also very ethical so you feel good about what you do. Every claim goes through thorough legal scrutiny so when they say a product performs, it really does! - Fun/Potential for Long-term career: P&G has a wide array of product categories and businesses in different competitive environment, which adds variety and challenges as one progress in the company. - Innovative: P&G is always at the cutting edge of innovation either from new product or a new marketing tactic perspective. It's a lot of fun to see the capability P&G has and be involved with the latest and greatest! - People: people are very supportive and vested in your success...if you are willing, there are always people willing to help you succeed. I find people very generous with their time and very honest with their advice to you. - Living Cost: living expense in Cincy is super low so you save a lot more with what you earn.
Cons
- Work life balance isn't the greatest in marketing. This is not so much that P&G make you work hard but because most people are type A and put in the extra miles to get ahead. This then puts some pressure if you also want to shine in the organization. - P&G feels like its own country sometimes...they create words and acronyms that are really difficult for outsiders to understand. It took a while to adjust to that. It's definitely got a distinct culture/language that one needs to get use to. - Be ready to feel "average" at P&G. Everyone is super smart and it's a culture of "continuous feedback" so no one will be patting your back and tell you good job when you did a great job. There will always be room to improve. This could be invigorating for some but frustrating for others. You are appreciated as an employee, it's just that appreciation rarely gets verbalized. - Location: CIncinati is not the best place to live if you are single. - It's also a very political organization (which can be expected from any large corpoation). Although it's a strong culture of meritocracy, whether you are on the path to CEO really depend on personality/style. Most "Golden" childs tend to ride at the coattail of their boss. - A lot of patience is required to get things done at P&G. It's a culture of alignment and that takes a lot of time. Sometimes too much time. - Sometimes process gets in the way. P&G is a very written culture. Everything needs to be able to fit on a one-page memo. And that one-page typically have at least 5 revision before going anywhere. This could be frustrating for some. - 1 week vacation time is below industry standard...
