A toxic work environment- low pay, no job security, and terrible management - Associate Editor JoVE Employee Review

1.0
21 July 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Healthcare package is pretty nice. You can be sure that you will be out the door at 5'o'clock. You can be sure that you will have friends at the office who are also miserable and want to complain with you.

Cons

Working at JoVE is a miserable experience which I can boil down to three main reasons: 1. The work itself is extremely dull and frustrating. If you are in editorial, you are essentially a sales person. Your job is to call scientists and beg them to publish with JoVE, which costs them a huge amount of money, Scientists generally think this is ridiculous and a waste of money. As an editor, if you don't make at least 10 "sales" per month, you are fired. No questions asked. As an editorial assistant, you are essentially spamming scientists with emails from JoVE trying to convince them to publish. 2. Management is extremely frustrated, with no transparency and little respect for employees. If you like to be micro-managed, sit through pointless meetings, and have absolutely no voice, then go ahead and work at JoVE. Day-to-day, one of the worst parts of the job is tip-toeing around and trying to avoid your manager staring over your shoulder or dragging you into the office for a "pep talk." There is no true leadership. Also, because people are fired almost every week for having low numbers, there is a constant fear of being fired and the management makes it very clear that everyone is replaceable (why do you think there are constantly job postings on this site?) 3. The pay is ridiculously low. Try living in Boston on about 25k. It's not fun. Everyone who works at JoVE is broke (except management) and many have to work second jobs just to get by. Hold out for a better job. Working at JoVE is a miserable experience.

Explore other reviews about JoVE

5.0
5 June 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Above-average compensation I like working with universities and research institutions. Strong client base, which makes my job easier Professional work environment Freedom to set my schedule Impressive teamwork

Cons

End-of-quarter periods can be really tough.

1.0
5 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The only pro was that I got a pay check every two weeks. You will meet some really nice people that you will trauma bond with.

Cons

Everything about JoVE is a con, and you'll feel like you've been conned when you discover the dead bodies early in your journey. I found a stack of them on my second day there. No one is safe here; they believe they can hire and fire their way to a group of A+ reps. There is no coaching. If the VP of Sales doesn't like you, you'll be fired. During the first six months of employment there I had FIVE different managers and my territory changed three times. They will roll out a new strategy/territory and if they don't see immediate success, things will change. Believe all of the reviews you read....I'm here to tell you that they are true. Any positive reviews come from within. And the only reason I gave them one star was because I didn't have the option to select none. And consider how many negative reviews there are at JoVE in comparison to the number at very large companies. Every week I was there (I was there for a year) at least one person from the sales team got fired. Good people that were fired just because the VP of Sales didn't like them. Again, no coaching is provided to anyone. You either get it or your out. The fact that most territories have no base business should tell you something....their customers feel hunted by the frequency of emails that are sent by marketing or editorial. Almost every campus I went to had faculty who complained about this. If you are looking to build a career, this is not the place to do it. I would only recommend taking a job at JoVE if you are without work and desperate for a paycheck. Despite JoVE working in the higher-ed space, they understand NOTHING about the US market. The fact that they are still in business tells you how good their product is. This company could be worth 100X its value if they would get out of their own way and treat their customers and employees like human beings. I seriously could write a book about how bad my experience was there.

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