Pros
I really liked the children who came to the center. Since we did back-up care, I acquired experience with a variety of age groups, and learned a lot from my experiences. We were a small center, so we all became close, and our location was in a very nice part of downtown Philadelphia.
Cons
I worked for back-up, so the majority of our days were very slow. We would only have children when other care arrangements had fallen through, or if there was no school. Most of the time, we were unable to acquire the hours that were promised. I was put on full-time after a few months. However, I had to use vacation hours when I was forced to leave early by my supervisor. Rather than provide alternative things to do, we were told to leave early or take off from work. This made no sense to me, as vacation hours were what I accrued through working hard, and I did not want to exchange this merely because the company did not provide enough work for me. Moreover, all of the work here was done entirely by teachers. My supervisor liked to talk on the phone, go out for lunch, go shopping, and come late or leave early. This occurred practically every week. Any interaction with a higher member of the company was heavily screened, and there was no outlet to express ourselves. My supervisor boasted about the company, as she started as a teacher and continued to be promoted. However, she was a very obvious, "do what I say, not what I do" type of leader, and took little interest in any of her teachers' development. Someone must have liked her for her to have been promoted. I am not quite sure why. In terms of growth and fostering mobility within the company, I had yet to see this happen for anyone who actually deserved it. After one year, I was given a raise of 22 cents. At 11.47 an hour, I was the highest paid at my particular location. One of my co-workers, who had worked for 2 years before me, had yet to reach $11. When my supervisor did "professional" things like have lunch with her mom, go shopping, and visit her fiance at work, we were the ones to cover for her. The person who covered for her the most was my co-worker. In order to show "appreciation" for her, she was "promoted" to administrative assistant, but remained on the same hourly wage. She was provided 40 hours per week, but continued to sacrifice vacation and sick time. My supervisor had little worries in regard to leaving early, as she was paid a salary. I worked for Bright Horizons between 2009 to 2011. In 2010, we had a very bad snowstorm in Philadelphia. In order to remain open, two coworkers and myself were asked to spend the night in a hotel. My supervisor was on vacation, and was not a factor in the decision. At this time, the storm had been so bad that it was expected that people might be stuck at their location for a matter of days. Rather than allow us to go home to our families, we were asked to stay overnight. To no one's shock, no children showed up the next day. This goes to show you the type of geniuses who work in higher positions, and their lack of regard for those at the bottom. When we were asked to stay a second evening, all of us refused. When we filled out our time sheets to account for this time, we were met with resistance. We had gone "over" our hours and the company did not want to compensate us for our time. I could tell you about another personal experience of mine, when I was nearly fired due to a medical emergency. Rather than go into that, I will just sum this up with the advice of never to work here. This was my first position after college, and I believe that I was abused in so many ways that I had yet to understand. People boast about this company, and there is this upbeat energy that serves as a facade for underemployment and underpay, a lack of regard for personal well-being, and blatant favoritism. I believe that Bright Horizons preys on those with a lack of experience, or perhaps with an Associate's degree. For most, it is an introduction to the workplace with promises of growth and opportunity. In reality, they do not provide livable wages, and inhibit employees from achieving their full potential. Unless this company has a complete makeover, I would suggest to look elsewhere.
