Hello, how would and outside sales rep do at this company? I applied to a job posting and have an interview next week. From what I read the base pay is pretty decent, at around 80k.
But this site scares me, I don’t want to be looking for a new job in a year or two. Should I do the interview?
If this is a serious inquest, RUN away as fast as you possibly can!
"Wait 80K for outside sales? That can’t be your base pay? Is that OTE?"
$80k is a pretty standard salary for an outside publishing sales position, but this does sound very high for Cengage these days. Bonus is not included in this amount at other companies, but this sounds about right for an OTE @ Cengage.
Wait 80K for outside sales? That can’t be your base pay? Is that OTE?
It’s awesome! You get Fridays off!
May the ghost of Cherie protect you always…
"Good luck to you, but understand that the executive team cares nothing about you. Nothing, Loyalty means nothing to them."
I've been around the block in my pretty successful career. I'm approaching retirement and spent more than a decade with Cengage. If there's one piece of advice I can give to anyone, it is to NEVER fool yourself that your boss, management, executives or ownership cares the slightest about you.
Can they like you? Sure. Will you be friends outside of work? Maybe. Will they ask how your kids dance recital or baseball game was over the weekend? Definitely.
But the world is based on the fact that people will ALWAYS act in their own self interest. Its a fact. The clowns running Cengage are no different than managers or execs running other companies. The difference is Cengage is not successful and has no chance of truly being successful, so it is a 24-7 death spiral. You could plop the same clowns into a successful company, and while they still may be insufferable, they wont be forced to make decisions that result in you losing your job, (unless you deserve it.)
The only way to avoid this is to:
There are thousands of very successful companies not named Cengage. I would start there.
But please stop fooling yourself that anyone, anywhere cares about loyalty in a meaningful manner.
Good luck to you, but understand that the executive team cares nothing about you. Nothing, Loyalty means nothing to them.
Go ahead and take the job. It beats being unemployed. Look at it as a starter job and get the experience to add to your resume. You may get laid off (collect that umemployment) or you may not. You might even do well and thrive. Dont give up as you can continue to check out other companies or may even make new contacts while working at Cengange to open up further employment opportunities outside of Cengage. Those of us presently employed at Cengage come here to vent so you will see a lot of negative but entirely true comments. That's what this site is for. Just remember that private equity is Cancer so eventually Cengage will be stripped down and sold in parts but don't let that hold you back from collecting a paycheck.
I was part of a team that absolutely wrecked an entire Cengage list because they were lazy, raised prices with impunity, produced cr-ppy revisions, no new product and didn’t send outside reps to call on campus in that discipline. It was honestly the most fun I’ve ever had in my career. Truly shooting fish in a barrel.
This is a microcosm of Cengage. You have motivated upstarts who are smart, nimble and resourced who run circles around the clueless old dying giant.
Private equity rules. There is no such thing as rational thought. It is all about doing more with less and then financial gymnastics at the corporate level.
An inside sales rep at Cengage recently expressed the desire to compete for an opening in outside sales. When this rep approached their inside sales manager to seek their advice and support, the manager delivered an interesting response. "I will definitely support you if you decide to go for this role, but you should think very carefully before taking such a step. This company will eat you alive as an outside rep."
Take that as you will.
There are two other elements that may impact your decision to interview. Most publishing houses regularly develop new product, which in this business means new textbooks/content for various college courses. This company does not. They simply update the titles already on the market without producing anything new and fresh. This severely limits the revenue growth it is possible to achieve in these sales roles. The second item worth mentioning is the severely-worded "it's do or die time" memo that recently came from the director of sales. The memo basically states that this coming season (meaning summer & perhaps the fall months) are crucial for the future of sales teams as they currently exist at Cengage. The unspoken threat inherent in this messaging is the large-scale sales downsizing that many have been expecting for a while now. This memo is shared in another thread on this site, it's worth seeking out.
So . . . would I recommend making this move, should an offer be extended to you? Personally no, I would never recommend Cengage as a potential employer. But I am not you. If this role represents a step up for you career-wise, and if operating in such a role might serve to open bigger and better future opportunities for you? Go for it. Work your butt off but keep in mind that this gig could end up lasting only a year or less.
Bill Gates hates traditional publishers more than he hates humanity. You will be competing against free, since his bottomless pockets are paying the electric bill for the servers that host free open source material. If you’re good with that then welcome aboard.
The company just went through a ton of layoffs so the next wave will probably be a year to 18 months out. Its a low ceiling job with a decent floor. I don't know your situation but as bad as Cengage is, it could definitely be worse. I'd take the interview. Even if you get an offer, not like you have to say yes. Or take it and keep interviewing elsewhere.
You should be apprehensive. Field reps are a dime a dozen.
I don't know your history, or if you are even real, but compared to other entry-level sales jobs, it's probably fine. 100% you will be worried about getting laid off at some time. But that is sales in general. No matter where you are if you don't perform you will probably gone, and it should be like that.
Cengage is on the dying end of the business, whether you call it Ed Tech or Ed Publishing. For them, its a race to the bottom. There is no real growth, so its all cuts and operational efficiencies. No different than any other company owned by private equity.
If I were you, I would look into smaller companies with much bigger upside, because there is zero upside at Cengage. But for a year or two until you gain some experience and contacts, its probably fine.
JMHO