Racism? Nepotism? Cronyism? Here's a Place with All Three!
Pros
If you need some BIG COMPANY experience on your resume, Prometric is somewhere to get it - providing you are prepared to suffer for your entire tenure. In this case, that experience comes at a very high cost.
Cons
In my more than 20 years of experience, Prometric is, without question, the worst place I have ever worked. Ironically, one of my challenges while working there was overcoming poor Glassdoor reviews in order to get people to accept job offers. Looking back, I feel a little bad about the ones I did manage to convince. It's difficult to articulate everything that makes Prometric such an abysmal place to work, though I was surprised by several things. First, this is the only place I've ever worked where yelling is considered an acceptable and effective method of communication. Worse still, thinly veiled racism is accepted, and even encouraged by Senior Staff. "What about HR?", you may ask. Prometric HR does an excellent job of assisting management in flouting the law - doing just enough to make a legitimate EEOC complaint an uphill struggle. Oh - and did I mention I'm Caucasian? Beyond the obvious problems I've already pointed out, there's a sense of despair on the part of the employees. Maybe it's because the default response to any problem at Prometric is to fire someone. For the record, I was not fired (despite how bitter I may seem), but I had many close scrapes, and more than once was forced to terminate one of my subordinates against my own wishes. The project is late? Fire someone. The budget is low? Fire someone. A C-level executive is having a bad day? Definitely fire someone! Many here have pointed out that Prometric might provide an opportunity for growth - a ticket punch, as it were. One thing to keep in mind: in a year and a half, I was not allowed to spend a single penny on training for any of my 18 subordinates. I could continue, but I think I've provided enough information to motivate anyone who can get a job someplace else to do so. There is one exception to what I've outlined here: if you're related to someone in a high place, this could be a cushy job for you. Prometric may not promote family values, but they certainly promote family members! One final point: Prometric has more than 5,000 employees spanning all 50 states and more than 150 countries. I worked at the corporate headquarters in Baltimore, and that is the experience I write about here. Experience from one test center to another can vary widely, so if you're considering a test center position, I recommend you continue your research.
