employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Penguin Random House

Is this your company?

A disappointing experience - Anonymous employee Penguin Random House Employee Review

2.0
Mar 5, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

While working in editorial, I got to experience the ins and outs of the publishing world - although I was pretty much at the bottom of the food chain, I got a good idea of what working as an editor there would be like. Most of the people were welcoming and friendly and there were good opportunities to go on courses and learn on the job.

Cons

High levels of stress - the particular editorial department I was at works mostly in silence because they have so much to get through. A peculiarly highly strung office culture - I once heard my boss shout at an editor, and I heard that this was considered the norm at RH - the higher up you get, the more you have adults shouting at other adults. However, what I was most disappointed with was what happened after I left - after a mutual decision that the position wasn't a good fit, I moved away - I thought we'd left things on an amicable note and both of my bosses promised me good references with whatever I planned to do next - which seemed fair, since I'd worked really hard. On landing a role I was really excited about, I directed them to my bosses for a reference and then didn't hear from them for six weeks, when they sheepishly admitted they'd given the role to someone else. Baffled, I made contact with a friend of a friend working in HR at the company I was hoping to work with, and she told me that my boss had been tentatively positive but then inserted a few choice statements like "Bright girl but she's bored by admin" - which caused the company to change their mind,since the role was entry level, and involved a degree of administration. Since my bosses had been the ones to state they'd give me a good reference, I thought this was surprisingly unprofessional - if they'd had reservations they should have declined to give a reference at all. So, as a heads up to anyone who worked there briefly and ended up leaving for somewhere else - skip the reference.

Explore other reviews about Penguin Random House

5.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

super friendly work environment, very understanding, very fun

Cons

in consumer marketing department, a large number of people work remotely

5.0
Jun 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

• Caring people. Psychological safety is emphasized by people at every level. I feel like leadership at each step of the reporting chain is very approachable and transparent. • Great work/life balance. • There is a lot of openness to trying new technologies or doing different things for such a large and established organization. There is very little "trend chasing," it's more like you're listened to. As the CEO started out as a technologist, he has a realistic view of what new tools (including, but not just, AI) can do for us. • Informal, especially for a company created by the merger of two nearly-100 year old publishing firms and was recently acquired by a nearly-200 year old company. • Company supports learning and development. • Free books! • I care greatly about the company's mission and it's clear how my work impacts the company's ability to execute on it. • Things often move slowly, which is both a pro and a con.

Cons

• Pay and insurance are very average, but I can live with that. This is a much bigger con for employees whose jobs require them to be on-site, especially in e.g. London and New York. • Said learning and development seem to have a ...deliberate pace. While this is fine and what I wanted, other tech people coming in from more "tech-y" organizations mightn't gel with it. • Things often move slowly, which is both a pro and a con.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All