EBSCO Publishing Reviews

Current Employee – been working at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – -flex time depending on dept you work for
-great benefits, although cost has gone up recently
-nice building
-nice outdoor setting

Cons – -could be more generous with salaries

Advice to Senior Management – keep valuing everyone, even the entry level folks; show your appreciation

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – Some people within and the majority of people outside of Technology Department are hardworking individuals. I'm thankful for having worked with them. They are the reason I managed to stay with the company for five plus years.

Cons – I can't speak about the group in Ipswich. I did not work there. Interactions with them were pleasant. Middle and upper management in other locations are dishonest and care less about their subordinates. They only care about what airplanes and motor bikes they ride. In fact, most conversations are dominated by talks about airplanes and bikes. Never once I was asked how I'm doing personally. They are very egotistical. The people they pick to be in their den are of the same mindset. If you come at them from a different point of view, they will crush you. They are the ones who are hurting this company. I do not recommend working in IT.

Advice to Senior Management – My advice is to never ask people working for you to not complain about you to other managers because it will get back to you. This is just stupid. Work on creating more pleasant work environment. Don't create divisions in the ranks. It's counter productive. Also, get rid of your Project Development Lead and the Software Architect. They are incapable of getting along with anyone within the department or across departments. They are cancer and cancer should be treated.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – Decent benefits - a cafeteria, free coffee and tea, work parties.
Nice people, as far as my direct co-workers are concerned.
Decent entry-level positions, good place if you're just starting out.

Cons – There is very little opportunity for advancement or promotion. Most mid-to-upper level management positions are sourced from outside the company. Difficult to even make same level transitions unless you know someone and are in their favor. Management is often un-supportive of their staff and it is common practice to shovel work on to others and throw people under the bus.

Advice to Senior Management – There need to be more opportunities to advance. management support needs to be worked on. Departments are extremely separate and everyone should have a more cohesive vision of the big picture.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – Casual work environment, limited responsibility, exposure to publishing/database environment

Cons – Low pay, minimal time off, not much room for advancement

Advice to Senior Management – Give employess a clearer sense of the bigger picture before starting new intiatives and offer more opportunities for meaningful advancement and increase in pay.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – They offer flexible hours depending on the territory. Nice environment. EBSCO offers excellent products, so its easy to sell overseas. A lot of work for the day to keep you busy. They provide free coffee. They have their own gym. Every other month they offer product training through online or in person.

Cons – Its depressing to see how direct managers wash their hands and let others do their work for them. Specially if they have the power to manipulate in a deceitful way their decisions and commissions without the TOP managers knowledge. TOP managers don't supervise sales or assignments coming from the lower management otherwise if its yearly.
 They don't offer sufficient vacation time, neither allow to take personal or sick days specially if you have kids. If there's an issue, you can NOT complain to anyone within the company- it looks they protect the managers. Too many long working hours without a break if you cover a large territory. If someone reach the sales goal, there is NOT appreciation or recognition from direct managers- They require only to make sales and achieve goals without any gratitude or smile. Usually the direct managers don't tell an employee to stop for a break even though is written in the company policy. Difficulties working with other departments, a lot of miscommunication between them. No monthly meetings between team members only yearly or quarterly.

Advice to Senior Management – Direct Managers should do their own assignments and NOT other sales agents. Employees with families should have more flexibility at work. Commission sales should be supervised by TOP managers and NOT by direct managers. Team meetings or sales goals should be accurately supervise monthly.

Former Employee – worked at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – Work overtime is not commonly seen at this work place. Most employees seem to be able to take PTO time whenever they feel they need it. The company promotes work/life balance. There are also talented professionals out there.

Cons – Individual experience may vary from department to department. Basically you have to figure out your own way to get the ropes you need. Manager could be tied up to cross-department meetings all year long.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop meeting and start managing.

Current Employee – been working at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – Good Product
Supportive resources
competitive spirit
strong sales environment

Cons – Communication among employees discouraged
Poor feedback on performance

Advice to Senior Management – Provide positive feedback is as important as critical evaluation

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – balance of work and personal time is great, direct managers are friendly and willing to work with employees in a variety of matters and situations.

Cons – Low pay based on standard of living in Alabama (we're in Mass. for goodness sake!), hardly any human interaction on a daily basis, depressing.

Advice to Senior Management – Please offer a telecommuting option. Help boost our morale and be more productive at the same time!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – Laid back culture, good salary, tons of work

Cons – Incompetence of middle managers sometimes affects personal schedules

Advice to Senior Management – Make sure middle managers are not micromanagers and worry about the responsibilities at their level instead of trying to understand every single detail of subordinates' work.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at EBSCO Publishing

Pros – The product itself is a helpful research tool. Indexing periodicals and writing abstracts can be interesting depending on the content. You learn well how to synthesize large amounts of information quickly. The cafeteria is reasonably priced and the staff are extremely friendly. Reimbursement for the commuter rail from Boston is a big perk.

Cons – After working here only a few months, the constant barraging of numbers and quotas really wore me down. The work environment is very impersonal and you sit in a large room among 100+ other abstractors without full cubicle walls (so people just walk around looking at everyone's screens) or phones at your desk. Although you literally almost never have to interact with any of your coworkers or customers, you are still expected to ask permission from your manager to alter your schedule by more than 15 min. Most people here seem to seriously lack social skills, this place is like a mecca for awkwards. For example, when I finally quit, my supervisor sent me a goodbye/goodluck email from his desk 15 feet away instead of speaking to me. The pay is lame, considering the absurd commute that most employees make to reach Ipswich. It seems like they would like to draw on the talent pool that Boston has to offer, but cant get any of them to stay because there is little opportunity for growth and its in the middle of nowhere.

Advice to Senior Management – This department could benefit by allowing workers a more flexible schedule or work from home options. The department would retain more specialized employees if employees could telecommute or were paid more.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend