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Ascend Learning

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Ascend Learning Reviews

3.9

63% would recommend to a friend

(507 total reviews)
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Greg Sebasky

66% approve of CEO

64% positive business outlook

Ascend Learning has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 507 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Ascend Learning employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

507 reviews
1.0
21 May 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

No vacation policy - Both a Pro and Con, actually. Employees are allowed to take days as they need them. Good for some positions, bad for others. Employees who work really hard and somehow, still stay despite the obvious troubles. Food - potlucks and a few catered lunches randomly for holidays.

Cons

Where to begin? - No budget - Broken technology - Impossible revenue goals - Management who will throw you under the bus Still reading? I'm shocked... well, here's why I am leaving this review. Decide for yourself if this is the type of company you really want to commit to. Always remember to look out for yourself, because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you thought they liked you and have praised your good work. They're in it for themselves, and you should be too. I was employed with ClickSafety (one of the Ascend Learning business units) for nearly 2 years, let go in January 2017 2 weeks shy of my work anniversary. I wasn't fired because I was a bad employee, let me be clear - I did a great job and put up with a lot of changes for about a year, until new management decided she needed a scapegoat for revenue problems and wanted to hire her own marketing team. Am I bitter? To be honest, I wasn't overly upset at first... but I just found out that because I was 2 weeks shy, I lost nearly $2,000 of my 401K contribution since I wasn't employed for 2 years. What's worse? I was also let go right after finding out I was pregnant. This company will pretend that they care about their people but when it really comes down to it, all they see are dollar signs. It's 2017 and there are several business unit websites that are NOT mobile responsive... ClickSafety won't be on the website redesign timeline until 2018, folks! Despite that major obstacle, marketing employees are expected to continue generating huge eCommerce revenue goals year after year, which is a complete joke. Customers can't purchase via mobile, yet that's where all the traffic is coming from? Too bad! You still better hit those numbers or else risk being told "you're going to get fired" for the entire office to hear. There is zero respect for employees who work hard and actually care about what they do. I'm a perfect example of collateral damage. As soon as technology fails, they throw you under the bus and will just replace you with the next poor unfortunate soul. Is there more? Oh yes, I could go on and on but I don't want to waste any more time thinking about this toxic company environment. Do yourself a favor and find a different place to work. Ascend Learning wants results but won't fork up the cash to help get things done. I'm sad to say this but they really did me a favor by letting me go.

2.0
16 Aug 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The work at Ascend is purposeful - creating assessments and education technology solutions that help students change their lives. There are loads of really smart and caring people working at Ascend. I made some good friends while working there. There is significant flexibility in time off, working at home, and the like.

Cons

Senior Leadership is constantly engaging in political infighting and jockeying, to the detriment of clients. Poor management behavior tolerated (lying to subordinates, micromanaging, controlling, discrimination, etc.) . HR is complicit in these poor behaviors. If you raise concerns you will be viewed as a troublemaker, no matter how tactfully you raise them, because of politics and leaders more concerned about being liked than being effective. Ascend bills itself as an Agile shop, but it is very dysfunctional from an Agile development perspective. There is perhaps one senior leader who understands Agile. All the people who get it are at a lower level in the organization that isn't listened to. Classic example of "we are agile because we have standups" when really they are doing waterfall.

1.0
25 Oct 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great peers - Employees who work on products are hard-working, supportive, and positive. Upper managers, unfortunately, are out of touch. Flextime - If you have a good manager, you do get unlimited time off. The flexibility is great, especially for parents. If you have a bad manager, then they can make you feel guilty for requesting time off.

Cons

Upper management is out of touch to the point of being damaging - Upper management is so removed from product-level work that they often make decisions that make it difficult to get work done. Unrealistic workload - The workload is extremely high and employees work overtime with no recognition, or they have to leave work undone and face negative repercussions from management. In particular, entry level positions designed for recent grads have unbalanced workloads. High stress - Working at Ascend causes acute stress. It's not unusual for employees to cry, have panic attacks, or be unable to come into work due to stress. Employees are moved around like chess pieces - During reorganizations, employees are sometimes moved into completely different jobs without any discussion, warning, or training. If you want to have control over your own career development, do not work here.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 507 Reviews

Glassdoor has 550 Ascend Learning reviews submitted anonymously by Ascend Learning employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Ascend Learning is right for you.