I know what it's like to be in a cult - Anonymous employee TerpSys Employee Review

1.0
31 Oct 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The devotion to being a good corporate citizen is admirable. They do know how to throw a party/host a picnic/keep the "bread and circuses" coming.

Cons

The monthly meetings were agony. 90% of the information could have been communicated by email. CEO Ed Woods has ZERO concept of how to tell a joke, but everyone laughs, because he's the CEO. The charity programs are taken way overboard. A company that gives back to the community is great, but this isn't a matter of the CEO sending a corporate check to help feed hungry kids, this is every employee being essentially forced to take part. The charities are all worthwhile, at least; they don't pick anything controversial, but even then, I usually drove home from my TerpSys-mandated Saturday morning feeling a little bitter towards the latest cause. The recruiters and other interviewers will tell you about all the training. What they don't tell you is its mandatory, and may not be especially related to your job. They want to be able to list "Red Hat Certified Engineer" on a contract solicitation, whether or not you actually do anything more than type a few commands into a Linux prompt. And until you've been there a while, it's on your own time, of course. The loss of a huge contract a year or so makes me wonder how the company can survive. Not only was that a huge portion of their revenue, most remaining work was for small non-profits. Unless they've recently won a large contract, or you don't mind a job that might not be there in a year, I would no recommend working there, just based,on likely future.

Explore other reviews about TerpSys

5.0
14 Apr 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Family atmosphere, talented colleagues, work-life balance

Cons

Small company, lacks access to a large pool of knowledge

5.0
24 Jul 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I enjoy my job. I enjoy my coworkers. I love getting two raises a year. I really love getting an annual bonus. I love RDOs and all the vacation time. I like the Management in the Field events I've been on: Trapeze school, Kayaking the Potomac, and GoApe!. - all of which I was paid to attend I have graduated from the TerpSys Outward Bound professional course - which I was also paid to attend. I believe the interaction between management, at least between me and my manager(s), is fair. I am grateful for the TerpSys paid training and certification.

Cons

I dislike the internal website. We are encouraged to post 'Knowledge Sharing' to the corporate SharePoint "forum", but the site is bulky and counter intuitive to what an IT company website should be. Rather than initiate discussion, the 'Knowledge Sharing' section of the website comes off as a dumping ground for people who want to appear involved in the company; I include myself as one of those people. I really disliked the change to the corporate mobile policy that encrypted, and broke, my SD card, and granted TerpSys administrative credentials to my personal cell phone. This change was made when employees at the corporate office received iPhones, but the policy was not communicated to non-corporate employees. I would have appreciated an email explaining the new policy. The SD card encryption failed and I lost some personal data, and I had to factory reset my phone to remove the TerpSys administrative credentials. I no longer check TerpSys email on my phone and I have less confidence

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