Nielsen Holdings N.V.

"It has a great work life balance i have a 9yr old and i dont feel like i have to choose they are very understanding"

"I've worked for this company over 6 years; supervisors are just nasty and rude, the environment is so strict, total quiet on the production floor (mind you there is no one on a phone on the production floor); will offer no flex schedules, will no offer raises, no bonus but for the pod leaders, and the coffee they make is so weak it looks like reclaimed water. The company has gone down hill fast. An example they just spent thousands on a new phone system that hangs up on clients, disconnects employees calling in; and fails on a daily level. The money would have been better spent improving the IT department and offering some kind of raise. Even the night cycle does even get an incentive for working until after midnight. This is not a good company at all."

"Very competitive environment. Nielsen still does the GE style forced rankings so you want to have some leaders who will advocate for you. There are still some boys club environments within the Buy side of the Global Business Services areas, but women can still have good careers if they're smart about how they navigate politically. People work well over 40 hours as a norm and to be ranked in the top 20% significant personal sacrifice is typically required. Negotiate your pay well when you come into the organization since merit raises are kept tightly to a 2-3% budget. HR will say that to grow your pay you should focus on moving toward promotion, but even for promotions HR will typically determine that you already fall in the role's range and not give you an increase due to the very wide pay bands. HR policy also includes differentiating not only on the % of your raise but also on the timing. Manager roles and above wait up to 18 months between raises unless you're the very top rated talent. Vacation isn't very generous (2 wks to start), so negotiate on that when you hire in as well. They'll try to tell you they can't formally agree to increased vacation, but you can get more off the books at least."

"It is overall a very solid company to work for. Pay is competitive, benefits are decent (and improving). I do have concerns about growth and I do think some departments are particularly top-heavy with men."

"Maternity leave has recently doubled to 12 weeks, so that is a big change; there are many rooms for nursing moms in each office. I've worked here for 5 years and there are opportunities for both men and women but you can find yourself at 35 with the same job title as someone who is 25 due to the emerging leader program here. Networking is king here - get people to like you and you'll do fine; keep to yourself and things will be tough."