proofreader

information technology intern

document specialist

Challenger Gray & Christmas

Pros

1) Work that is very worthwhile, Helping people in an incredibly stressful point in life. If you like travel you will love working for CGC . Good people who really do want to do great work on behalf of clients.

2) The "Challenger Program" actually does work, When they say they are the original and best outplacement company there is a great deal of truth to that. Working at CGC was a fantastic learning experience in Consulting skills and offers a unique window into the corporate world of its clients that you wont find working elsewhere.

3) And there are some senior people there who have an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience they are willing to share with newer staff. So it is actually a pretty cool gig if you are young, single and looking to learn about client facing professional services.

Cons

1) The pay is Awful. I mean truly awful. Like Dickensian sweatshop Oliver Twist, awful.

2) There are no benefits. So if you are not married to someone with health insurance be ready to sell one of any organ you have two of to make ends meet. There will be no measurable raises or a bonus that are worth speaking of.

3) You are on the hook up front for your travel expenses. Everything except your air travel. That means your credit card must be used for hotels, meals, etc . It's all on you. Yes., expenses get processed in about two weeks but when your pay is dismal to start with, this can be a real hardship. The excuse is you get to keep the miles/points that way. Which is nonsense, because if the hotel were billed directly like the airfare staff could still collect points and miles. In this regard CGC is just cheap and lazy.

4) You will be micromanaged within an inch of your life. Literally your phone (and it is YOUR phone you will be using as, the company wont give you one .) will ring constantly with your VP wanting unending updates which will get in the way of actually getting your work done.

5) The company's technology infrastructure is circa 2000 , on a good day.


Advice to Management

Overall working at CGC can be an incredible experience. But you clearly see coaches and counselors as disposable. Sales staff are what matters This has made the company a lot of money but you are not a place that I could in anyway advocate considering for any sort of long term career. If you are not willing to raise the base salaries of coaches then at least join the late 20th century and bill hotels centrally like you do air travel.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Being trusted as an individual contributor to do a great job. They keep up with trends and adjust their offering and tools accordingly.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
In the current market, the salary is too low for the quantity of clients. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Extremely supportive and collaborative.  Fellow seasoned coaches are always available for mentoring.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day consists of majority time connecting with clients via zoom or phone.  Close programs ending for clients, ensure reach rates are met for the week and document client interactions concisely.

What a great group of people and a beautiful mission to be a part of! Amazing managers, processes are always evolving and improving, and the benefits offered to clients are always being enhanced. Focus is on the individual in transition and great customer service and care are at the core of everything they do. As a traveling strategy coach, I get to travel all around the country meeting with talented individuals who are in transition to support them to get where they want to go next. Love Challenger, love my job. 

Never worked for a company where upper management had no clue how lower management treated employees . My time was short, a freely accepted dismissal as a result of speaking up about treatment of clients and employees . Oh well ! If you don’t like the heat get out of the kitchen I suppose! I would never recommend working at this company.

Difficult place to work as schedules change from day to day. You could be scheduled to be in Dallas Monday through Friday and end up flying to Denver on Tuesday, Washington DC, on Wednesday and Chicago on Thursday depending upon the company needs. 
Company did try to treat employees fairly but they had difficulty with the travel due to the nature of the business.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The clients make it worthwhile 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Extremely low pay with a lot of work to do. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Okay!  Nothing too much to speak of 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Work work and more work. It's never ending

If you're looking for a place where each day you are on a mission of helping people, Challenger is that place. We get to help folks every day with their job search and it is incredibly fullfilling. 

Working for Challenger is the epitome of work/life balance. They know that we are people, with lives and they allow us the freedom and balance to do what we need to do.

I love my job.  Every day I have a sense of achievement from helping clients.  Some times of the year are busier than others - during business times I can work up to 40 hours per week and during less busy times it can be half of that (but my salary remains the same).  During our busiest years we have been awarded year end bonuses of more than 3 months pay.  There are also bonuses for every excellent client survey.

Coaches are left alone to do their own use of standard program provided, however, it would be nice to observe, hear how other coaches work to refresh the presentation for individual clients. A good company to work with but some managers are not good at providing criticism.

Working on spreadsheets/customizing reports
Learned team management and mentoring.
Management is hands-off.
Culture is apathetic.
Dealing with entrenched staff not willing to learn new things.
Autonomy to pursue areas of interest.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Proofreader 1 salary reported	$16.00 per hour
Information technology intern 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour
Document specialist 1 salary reported	$16.00 per hour

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