Pros
The best reasons to work here? It starts with the people. Amazing passion for what we are trying to do: create great learning resources that bring joy back to learning and help people -- particularly those most in need -- realize new opportunities through the power of education. I view it as a mission-based company -- and the mission is not just to make money. That's not easy to find in modern day companies. The executive team is relatively new (all but one have been with the company less than 3 years) and fully committed to the mission. In fact, in the year they spent forming together as a team, they dedicated time to understand at a deep level whey each of them was there -- what mattered most to them in this work (again, not money!). Now they are engaging every employee in a variation of that same conversation through an exploration of the Cengage Credo -- a statement of principles that articulates why we exist and who we are. Very cool and really important. Equally important, the company is appropriately shifting its focus toward understanding students. Creating great customer-focused product development processes. Students' learning lives are complex. If the solutions we offer don't deliver value w/in complex lives (for example during the 20 minute bus ride to campus) students aren't buying. Our product and technology teams get that, so there is a lot of exciting development happening and cool products coming online. We also have great content, including Gale -- a leader in reference materials. Amazing compilations of archived information available to instructors and students. The exciting challenge lies in getting those resources to learners proactively, where they are and when they need them. Pay is solid. Benefits are good. And people like to have fun and truly care about each other and look for opportunities to help. Some of the best colleagues I've had in a several decade career in different industries. We are 1.5 years on the other side of Chapter 11 with a lot of momentum on our side. It's a great time to be at Cengage.
Cons
Laugh at me if you want, but there is no downside if you have your eyes open and you are not looking for some mythically perfect company. The reality is, we are a company in transition trying to lead in an industry that is in transition. During the high times, when all we had to do was produce textbooks, get instructors to assign them to captive students -- the company minted money and became complacent, losing its innovative edge and its focus on learners. Now, with new leadership, the company is refocused on making a difference in learners' lives. But we have to rebuild everything -- how we build our products, internal systems and processes. We need different kinds of people to be a different kind of company. So there is a lot of change. And some of the investments we know we need to make -- particularly internal systems -- are on hold until we prove to ourselves and our investors that we are truly soaring in the market and can afford to make those investments. That can be frustrating. At the very least it requires patience. But the execs are very open and transparent about that, so that helps. And we ARE making progress. Like most large companies, we have silos that we need to continue breaking down. And we need to do a better job of recognizing people's contributions so that they feel valued. We are moving so fast and working so hard to reshape the company for sustained success, sometimes we don't take enough time to say, "great job." The good news is, all of this is visible and under discussion. If you just want to show up and do a job in a perfectly functioning company, maybe this isn't the place for you. On the other hand, if you care about education and creating opportunity for people who need it, if you want to do cool and important work with amazing people AND be a part of rebuilding a company that aspires to make a difference -- then you couldn't find a better place to be.