Scholastic Reviews

Pros

You can work on some fantastic and exciting projects. OR...

Cons

... you can end up working on some disjointed, poorly managed and under-supported projects. It varies widely by department.

Advice to Senior Management

I've seen Scholastic make huge reductions, and I've seen Scholastic go on crazy hiring binges. The organization seems to be a series of individual fiefdoms. Senior management needs to be more focused on setting a steady and predictable course. Middle management needs to be more focused on seeing the whole picture and working together as a team.

Pros

Hours are great if you want the summer off,

Cons

If you wanted to be treated like a child, be disrespected, play mind games, have sales taken away from you or lose commission for some silly thing, Then this is the place for you.

Advice to Senior Management

learn to respect your employees, Look at your turn-over.....ask yourself why in this economy so many of your good people are leaving...Something is definitely wrong...One last thing ...get rid of some of the supervisors, they are out of touch, put them back on the phones

Pros

The material you work with is always interesting and varies quite a bit. Coworkers and management are for the most part decent and fair people to work with.

Cons

The Soho location is an old building with very cramped working quarters for proofreaders. It is sometimes difficult to focus due to background noise.

Advice to Senior Management

more professionalism

Pros

You do get the summer off if you are a 10 month employee. This season is was 9.5 weeks. But not enough over the 2 months to file for unemplyment. Closed at Christmas but can no longer carry over.

Cons

No notice about having to cram all unused vacation days into 2 months time since they decided (overnight) to change poicy and then put a freeze on the last two months of the year. Everyone in my department (and many others, due to management) walk on eggshells everyday. There is NO, absoultely no fun to be had. Forget about having relationships with your fellow employees, there is no one I know that works harder anywhere. There is no time extra... they make sure of that!

Advice to Senior Management

Treat people like humans and not robots!!!! We work so so hard and make this company SO much money yet we are expected to do more and more!

Pros

Diversity in terms of men vs women in all ranks is pretty solid vs. other companies. Women excel in this publishing arena from sales to finance and get their fair share of promotion opportunities

Location in Soho is pretty cool for young folks particularly. Creative and energetic atmosphere.

Theme of business is education of children thru reading. Offer a lot of classroom orientation discussions in their meeting rooms on topics like strategies to get children to read more, read better and so on conducted by educators and doctors in the field.

Great benefits and fair pay vs the industry. Hours can vary but leans towards fair in most departments.

Beautiful building and most managers and above had separate offices

Cons

Finance driven culture
Layoffs can come in waves
Heavy reliance on part time or contract workers with no benefits
Cramped quarters for non-management workers
Communication bw mgmt. and workers could use some improvement
Diversity of ethnicity was very weak with no signs of improving
Quoted bonus offerings rarely met due to less than planned performance business wide

Advice to Senior Management

There should be more transparancy in how senior management behaves toward its employees. Change tend to start at the top and filter down the ranks with no real connection to employee performance. Thus politics plays too much a role in how people get ahead. It is who you know and not so much as how well one performs in Scholastic's culture.

Pros

Wonderful working environment: smart, fun, interesting, creative, and well-meaning co-workers; supportive, kind, and understanding senior management. Excellent mission: creating good books to encourage reading in children; supporting the careers of authors and illustrators. Respected and well-known company. Many women in senior roles.

Cons

Convoluted processes to move projects forward. Poor analysis and application of sales. Poor planning for future. At times, unclear goals and expectations. Salary disparity between people of same level of experience in marketing, sales, and editorial. Salary disparity between people of same level of experience in different business units. Poor management of unchecked egos.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve Standard Operating Procedures.

Pros

good environment, many of the VP's are very down to earth

Cons

HR department seems to be a bit disorganized, communications from the Director level downward are often times far delayed leading to uneasiness in the cubicles, business operating procedures seem antequated and need improvement, the business as a whole is good but the management is lacking in their communication skills

Advice to Senior Management

none

Pros

Benefits and Pay.. That is all.

Cons

Where to begin, If you desire employment from a company that has perfected the art of "backstabbery" down to a science, then Scholastic is for you. Job requirements: Must be a relative of, or good friends of an existing employee. Must be prepared to receive no on the job training and be told to learn your duties at home on your own time.
You must also have no problem being written up for things like "taking supervisor approved vacation time". or being reprimanded for merely saying "good-bye to your co-workers" at the end of your shift. This is seriously a bizarre and pathetic work environment. Supervisors who spend hours a day outside smoking and gossiping but yet they cry that "they have no time to train you" or explain anything of relevance to you that pertains to your job.
The supervisors are the epitome of passive aggressive. They seem to relish harassing the employees. It's as if they have been given the green light from upper management to treat those that they supervise any way that they wish. There is no job security and hard work isn't valued, It's almost laughed at. They treat the work force as third graders. We're talking well educated employees with teaching degrees that are well up in years, not a wet behind the ears fresh out of high school work force. Also if you do take a job with Scholastic and your supervisor decides that they want to get a friend or family member in, and your job would be the only option available, then be prepared to be given walking papers with no legitimate explanations.
This is a well insulated satellite office with a culture of condoning and seemingly encouraging varying types of abuse. I would hope that if the proper people at the Corporate headquarters in New York knew of the unethical and unprofessional practices taking place in this office, that they would implement a thorough house cleaning.
Also, seeking help or filing grievances with the Human resources dept is useless as they are well schooled in letting things go in one ear and out the other.

Advice to Senior Management

Quit favoring. Instead of Harvesting the good leads for your family and best friends, share with those who are suffering.. Learn to be more lenient.

Pros

great company mission, dedicated to helping teachers, children, and other education professionals learn, great maternity leave

Cons

difficult to advance and get a raise

Advice to Senior Management

recognize talented individuals who work hard and don't wait too long to promote them.

Pros

Materials that really can make a difference in the lives of teachers and children.

Cons

Employees are bullied on a daily basis. Tone of voice is not respectful.

Advice to Senior Management

Rethink how materials are offered to the schools and teachers. Aculture of encouragement creates outstanding children - and employees.