Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House Employee Reviews
Found 225 reviews matching the search See all 340 reviews
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Good place to work
Production Worker (Former Employee) – Crawfordsville, IN – February 13, 2019
Penguin Random House is a great place to work. They care for their employees and their families. They offer a great medical plan. The supervisers and managers are easy to talk to.
Pros
Set schedule
Cons
It hot in the summer
OK place for first time job seekers
DevOps Team Lead / System Design Systems Engineer (Current Employee) – New York, NY – February 7, 2019
Upper and mid-management do little then take meetings and have meetings about meetings.
Little room for advancement, lack of standards and processes
Little room for advancement, lack of standards and processes
Pros
not many
Cons
black hole for career
Work is easy, but environment is harsh.
Picker/Packer (Current Employee) – Westminster, MD – January 30, 2019
First of all: If you are in desperate need of a job like I was, this is by all means a good place to work since you need no experience and the work is easy.
HOWEVER:
The management is horrible and it is so hard to advance. They tell you that they have promoted you and then wait MULTIPLE (not just one or two) MONTHS to move you to your new job, usually without warning. When you needed that promotion for the raise, that extra dollar means nothing when you've been waiting for a little under half a year.
Not to mention the management seems to be out to get people who work hard, but do nothing when passing by workers who clearly aren't working.
As a general rule of thumb, my experience has been if you go in and work at an average level you will be left alone. You wont be able to advance, but the management will leave you alone.
If you go to work, work hard, and care about your work and what the customer is receiving, the management will nit-pick you to the point of quitting or getting fired.
I really enjoyed my work and loved working there in the beginning, but as a worker who ACTUALLY CARED I was thrown under the bus so many times. I have watched countless times as a supervisor walked past 3 or 4 workers who weren't even trying to pretend they were working, just talking, and then seconds later, tell a good worker they did something wrong!
I know my work is good, the company knows my work is good, but the management wanted me gone for no apparent reason.
The benefits are the only thing keeping most workers there, and I know because I've asked them. Take it from me, more... keep your head down. Go in, keep to yourself and work, and get out of there. less
HOWEVER:
The management is horrible and it is so hard to advance. They tell you that they have promoted you and then wait MULTIPLE (not just one or two) MONTHS to move you to your new job, usually without warning. When you needed that promotion for the raise, that extra dollar means nothing when you've been waiting for a little under half a year.
Not to mention the management seems to be out to get people who work hard, but do nothing when passing by workers who clearly aren't working.
As a general rule of thumb, my experience has been if you go in and work at an average level you will be left alone. You wont be able to advance, but the management will leave you alone.
If you go to work, work hard, and care about your work and what the customer is receiving, the management will nit-pick you to the point of quitting or getting fired.
I really enjoyed my work and loved working there in the beginning, but as a worker who ACTUALLY CARED I was thrown under the bus so many times. I have watched countless times as a supervisor walked past 3 or 4 workers who weren't even trying to pretend they were working, just talking, and then seconds later, tell a good worker they did something wrong!
I know my work is good, the company knows my work is good, but the management wanted me gone for no apparent reason.
The benefits are the only thing keeping most workers there, and I know because I've asked them. Take it from me, more... keep your head down. Go in, keep to yourself and work, and get out of there. less
Pros
3 breaks, good benefits, paid vacation, paid sick
Cons
horrible management, little or no advancement, grueling work, cutthroat and stressful environment, generally has too much drama in the work environment
Fast-paced workplace
Mailroom Clerk (Current Employee) – New York, NY – January 2, 2019
A typical day at work is fast-paced and filled with a lot of heavy lifting, standing, and WORK. Overall, a great first job - educational and pays well.
Pros
Educational
Cons
Short breaks
Great place to work
WAREHOUSE ASSOCIATE (Current Employee) – Crawfordsville, IN – December 17, 2018
Still working here and I work with a great team! Everyone gets along and works together to get the job completed. The benefits are excellent but the pay is low! For a family of 5 we barely get by! Free books every month and quarter tho!
Pros
Benefits
Cons
Pay and no lunch
A kind and understanding manager with helpful co-workers
Full-Time Mail Clerk (Current Employee) – New York, NY – December 10, 2018
Very high stress situation in the mail room. Too much work for one person to handle. Had to work at a break neck speed. I worked for 11 years full time and now I just cannot keep up with the work. I learned good team skills and how to multitask. I learned how to handle situations that seemed hopeless by focusing on budgeting my work and taking things one step at a time. I work with other team members and we learned to work together helping each other out on the very difficult jobs such as when many heavy boxes needed to be moved at once. The most enjoyable part of my job is getting to know the 200 people I deliver packages to on my floor. They are all friendly and willing to talk about an upcoming book or a book they think I might enjoy reading. The editors and their assistants are friendly and engaging.
Pros
Building relationships with editors and assistants
Cons
Too much constant work for one person
wouldn't work for
Client Service Representative (Former Employee) – Westminster, MD – November 1, 2018
I would never work for this company again. Sure the benefits are great and you get 10 free damaged books a month, but the managers are on a power trip and you are treated like a child. I enjoyed the type of work I did just not the managers they were very unprofessional.
Books
Senior Business Analyst (Former Employee) – New York, NY – October 15, 2018
Fun place to work - but everyone wants to be an editor. Interesting to see how the book process works. loyal company to their employees if you are good and tries to do the right thing for their employees.
Stressful!!
Order Processor (Former Employee) – Crawfordsville, IN – October 11, 2018
This is not a pleasant place to work. It is high stress and you are told all the time they can walk you right out the door. You are made to feel like you are a number not a person!
Not sure if this job was worth it
Digital Operations Assistant (Current Employee) – New York, NY – October 8, 2018
This company does not pay it's employees well. You do a lot of work for very little money, even if you have all the experience in the world. A lot of the roles are for such little tasks. Many people are bored or aren't working to their full potential.
Pros
Free Books
Cons
Horrible pay
order processor
Order Processor (Former Employee) – Westminister, MD – September 28, 2018
This a labour intensive related with a lot of walking and inventory counting job. I learn new software which can help in other jobs. The people and the atmosphere is fantastic.
Pros
You learn a lot about books and inventory
Cons
payment related to my situation was low.
Slow pace and bad management
Shipping (Former Employee) – Crawfordsville, IN – September 27, 2018
It’s about who you know and if they like you, it doesn’t matter how hard you work or how much you can do, if they don’t like you they will make your life miserable! I wish it wasn’t like this but this is the truth!
Pros
Lots of vacation time
Cons
Poor management
Wish it was still open.
Quality shipping & Return personnel (Former Employee) – Kirkwood, NY – September 21, 2018
The pay was great. The work days felt gratifying. Enjoyed the team work. fast pace hard work. They gave out great Christmas bonuses, and a sweat jackets with company name every year.
Pros
Good work, and great pay
Cons
Its closed
Best place to work
Warehouse worker (Former Employee) – Westminster,md – September 20, 2018
Penguin Random House is one of the best places to work . The management is great and they're always there for you if you need them. Everyone works as a team and it's one big family.
Pros
Lots of breaks, you can work at your own pace, teamwork
Cons
Long days, no AC and fans that barely work, hot, dirty
Can't talk
general laborer (Former Employee) – Crawfordsville, IN – September 20, 2018
They are very strict about their no talking policy. Also no food or drink allowed on the floor period. You only get 2 20 min breaks per 8 hour shift. The benefits are great.
Pros
healthcare
Cons
short breaks
Loved working here
Tax Ana (Former Employee) – Westminster, MD – September 10, 2018
My manager was amazing to work for! The atmosphere was one of growth and changes but consistant in policies and expectations. The group of people I worked with were helpful and knowledgable.
Free books
REPRODUCTION QUALITY ASSURANCE TECHNICIAN (Former Employee) – Westminster, MD – September 9, 2018
Packing book orders
Learning different authors from all cultures
Management was fair
Bias work culture
The hardest part was the amount of work was not compatible with the pay
The enjoyable was getting a lot of interesting damage books on different days at no cost
Learning different authors from all cultures
Management was fair
Bias work culture
The hardest part was the amount of work was not compatible with the pay
The enjoyable was getting a lot of interesting damage books on different days at no cost
Pros
Getting free books
Cons
A lot of work very little pay
people were great and deserve better
Service area (Current Employee) – Westminster, MD – September 9, 2018
The people there are working in an environment with no climate control very hot in the summer time and a lot of physical work. the hourly rate should be more then what they are getting due to the environment. The winter isn't as bad with the temperature the heating unit does smell like rotten eggs. The do need to make repairs on the older building and was concerned for my safety. The people that I worked with are very caring and concern for each other. The most enjoyable part of the time I would have to say was break time. Some of the management there should not be managers.
Pros
Christmas party
Cons
Short breaks, no climate control
Easy job
Picker/Packer (Current Employee) – Crawfordsville, IN – September 8, 2018
Good place to work if you have kids still in school. Benefits are excellent. Very boring work doing the same thing daily. The free monthly books are a nice perk.
Pros
Good benefits
Cons
Lack advancement opportunities.
Overall rating
Based on 340 reviews
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54
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Women's ratings
2.7
Fairygodboss Score
67%say women are treated fairly and equally to men
100%would recommend to other women
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