Eastern State Penitentiary Reviews

-The managers that worked at the site for many years are incredibly passive aggressive, two-faced, ungrateful, uncaring, and make your experience working there miserable. All of them have authority issues-feels like they are the guards and you are the prisoner (like the Stanford Prison Experiment). New GOOD MANAGERS that get hired, usually only last a few months because they get pushed out (or they leave because they can't take it). Managers treat employees like high school students, and act like they know more than you and are better than you, and they destroy your confidence on a daily basis. - Uniform does NOT keep you warm in the winter. Shoes are very important for the job, but due to allowed colors and style you are very limited on what you can wear. Often you will find yourself wearing very expensive shoes or shoes that are not comfortable. - You spend A L OT of time standing and staring at blank walls. You are not allowed to read, use the internet if you are by a computer, or even read materials relevant the to the historic site. Very rarely, you do get to read. If a good new manager is running the site, they will let you read all day because they trust you enough-trust that you are a responsible adult. They trust that if you see a visitor you will pay attention to them. -When it SHOULD be acceptable, you are not allowed to sit down. You end up standing on concrete for almost 8 hours a day sometimes. Often in complete cold or complete heat. When 99% of all staff bring up to management that there is an issue, they get ignored. You feel like you belong to a herd of sheep. - You almost never get recognized or rewarded (sometimes visitors will send an email to compliment you), you never get thanked by management for doing a good job when you do. Some managers or people with a higher position at the site will actually never say hello to you, or say good morning, even though you see each other every single day. That actually makes a huge difference when you work somewhere. -As a visitor Services staff you are not encouraged to grow, nor do you have an opportunity to do so. If you show that you have some interest and potential in moving forward, you get discouraged or ignored.

The managers at Eastern State are the worst I've experienced in ten years of working as a tour guide at historic sites. They know that hundreds of people want to work there so they treat all of their employees like cattle. They actively look for ways to undermine your confidence and make your day as miserable as possible. They do not care about you at all. The pay is terrible, and you may have to work for as long as a month before you actually receive a paycheck. The site posts an ad for tour guides every few months because the staff turnover is huge due to the incredibly hostile and disrespectful management. Even though it is not in the job description, you really are expected to work a huge amount of after-hours events. If you don't, be prepared to be ignored and have your regular work hours cut down as punishment for not wanting to do extra work. You are also guilted into donating a portion of your paycheck every month to support restoration projects. If you do not, they will find ways to take it out on you. I can't stress enough how unpleasant, self-absorbed, and vindictive the managers are at ESP. They will destroy all of your confidence in yourself. Years later, I still have nightmares that I'm working there again. This is by far the most toxic work environment I have ever experienced, and I would advise everyone to avoid applying for a job here. You will start your job full of excitement and they will turn you into a miserable, dead-eyed robot.