24 Mar 2017
Stable, flexible, good family-oriented place to work
Anonymous employee
TerpSys reviews about "management"
25% positive business outlook
Reviews by job title
12 reviews
2.0
17 Jun 2014
Cultish environment, high school-like cliques, arrogant and out-of-touch management.
Former employee, more than 3 years
Bethesda, MD
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
Tuition and certification exam reimbursement, clothing, fair benefits and vacation package, good folks working in the trenches.
Cons
Management plays the "favorites" game, only anointed individuals get promotional opportunities, dead-end career paths for many individuals, management arrogance and inability to recognize contributions of all staff, not just the chosen few.
4.0
17 Jul 2013
A very good small/medium sized company to work for
Current employee
Rockville, MD
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
TerpSys is an IT services company who's primary source of income is derived from providing IT services to a government agency in the Washington DC metro area. As a small/medium company (approx 250+ employees) TerpSys provides an excellent work experience, especially for those new to the IT industry. The pay is above average for the industry, and employees are given excellent chances to earn a pay raise and bonus yearly. The medical/dental benefits are very good. Although the cost of medical insurance has gone up, the company pays quite a generous share of your insurance. I have been consistently told by medical and dental offices that my insurance benefits are among the best you can have. The opportunities for training/certification are above average for the industry. Employees are required to obtain one industry certification per year. The company pays for any certification tests that you pass, and pays to send you to training at least once per year. Emphasis is placed on teamwork and participation. More so than at a larger company. At TerpSys, you are not just an anonymous number on someone's spreadsheet. There are plenty of opportunities for participation. Charity events, a yearly company picnic, a yearly company "holiday" party, monthly birthday lunches, committees, etc. First line managers are much more technical than at any other company I have worked for. Employees who are interested in management opportunities are encouraged and mentored, and if qualified, will eventually be promoted to management. If your interest is not to become a manager, but instead become an "uber-guru" and keep the tools in your hands, that is fine as well. I work with front line engineers who have been with the company for over 10 years, as well as managers who have been with the company for less time. The president of TerpSys seems genuinely interested in the well being of his employees. I voluntarily work 9 hour work days in order to get 1 weekday off per pay period. I get to tele-work one day per week. I get all the government holidays off. I get enough personal time off to be able to take a nice vacation every year. The work is interesting and there is always something to keep me technically challenged.
Cons
There are always cons to working anywhere, because it's impossible to please 100% of employees 100% of the time. That said, there are a few things that might throw off new employees unless they get used to it. Being a government contractor can be a challenge. Our customer environment deals with a lot of research and contains a large concentration of people with PhD's. Some of these people also have odd personalities that take getting used to. Government budgets are tight, and it's not always easy to obtain what you need to get the job done. There is a necessary amount of "politics" associated with the job, and not everyone can handle that. There have been times when I have questioned the validity of the resumes of some of the people I work with. Some days are fun, some days are frustrating. As far as TerpSys is concerned, the cons are minor enough to not impact my desire to stay on the job. For example, and as others have posted, there is a monthly staff meeting at an off-site location, which is held on my own time and not on company time. Corporate makes an effort to keep it to around an hour. There are some things that could be eliminated, shortened, or turned into emails, to make the meeting better. Little things like that, when taken individually, don't amount to much of a con. But when they accumulate, then things become an irritant. Still, I've been here a few years and so far, nothing that can't be handled with an attitude adjustment, a talk with my supervisor, or some stress relieving after work activities. Very similar in fact, to pretty much everywhere else where I have worked.
5.0
8 Aug 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
The TerpSys mission is to Delight Our Customers, Challenge Ourselves, and Serve Our Community. While I was there, I had the opportunity to participate in several Outward Bound Professional Leadership programs, take technical and leadership trainings, participate in many community service events, and support the important mission of many of our customers. Many staff members were very committed to the mission of the company. It was not a place for everyone as there was an expectation to constantly improve yourself through trainings and certifications. At the height of the company's size, there were staff members who were fresh out of college and staff members who had been in their careers for 30+ years. I read about one former employee's claiming to be fired for being gay. As a former employee of TerpSys, who was opening gay, I found this accusation to be absurd. To give my background, I worked under the leadership of the CEO from July 1998 when we were a division of another company until January 2015 when I left due to contract changes. There was never an issue with my being gay for the entirety of my career with TerpSys. In 2002, my then boyfriend (now husband) joined the company. In 2011, the CEO celebrated our wedding (as he did with all weddings and other significant life events) at the monthly staff meeting following our wedding. My husband is still currently employed with TerpSys. I served on the management team for a couple of stints and throughout the years there were gay and lesbian managers on the management team. Our teammates and managers were always very open and accepting. I NEVER felt any kind of discrimination from any of our coworkers or managers throughout our employment (nor did my husband).
Cons
Due to the current size, there are limited growth opportunities and benefits available compared to years past. When I was there, it was not uncommon for gossip to run rampant on the major contracts.
5.0
29 Jan 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
Great Management team that cares for their employees
Cons
Not a lot of opportunities for growth, within the contracting side
3.0
29 Sept 2012
TerpSys is a good place to learn, but experience marred by office politics and unrealistic expectations
Anonymous employee
Former employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
- Unlimited certification reimbursement - Great teams to work on, exposure to several different aspects of enterprise environments - Experienced and fun coworkers make the work day bearable - Flexible work schedule hard to match at other companies (one extra day off every pay period) - Telework days for certain positions - One fully paid training session per year - Semi-annual raises, along with a once a year bonus
Cons
- A monthly staff meeting that gives information better summarized in an e-mail/on a website. For those who don't work near the staff meeting location, driving to downtown Bethesda during rush hour is a real hassle. Also, the staff meeting is generally dominated by activities/speeches/etc that contribute nothing to the overall experience. - Senior management is ambiguous about expectations in regards to 'community service.' In the past, the company offered a bonus that would be paid out depending on your level of participation in the community service activities. Since this has gone away, you don't technically have to participate, but you're still rated on your level of participation at the end of the year. Senior management will look down on anyone who doesn't attend _every single event_ and your rating at the end of the year will change accordingly. The rumor is that this rating will affect how much you're paid out "when the company is sold," but this could simply be a way to keep people participating in events when they'd rather spend their weekends with family/friends/etc. - Inter-office politics more closely resemble high school cliques than a professional organization. Favoritism runs rampant, and this especially reflects in the relationship escalation point teams have with lower level technicians. While some technicians are treated with respect and given a certain level of trust regardless of their actions, others are constantly and openly disparged and made to feel inferior, even though they're simply trying to learn and get the job done. - Management promotions are made based on who is next in line. Never once during my time at TerpSys did a management position get posted and have interviews. New managers were simply announced and the promotions took place without even the fascade of a competitive process. This led to people who were management material being overlooked, while leading to the promotion of the less qualified simply because of tenure or reputation among existing managers. - Secrets are very big at TerpSys. When someone leaves, when someone is promoted, or when anything substantial happens, only the selected inner circle are told. Regardless of how miniscule something is, people are expected to keep secrets until management deems it fit for release to the outer circle plebians. Inevitably, the information will be spread before the official annoucement, but why the secrecy?
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