University careers?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone work in a position at a University? Pros and Cons?

[Anonymous]

I did and hated it. You’d think they’d be great places to work, but that wasn’t my experience.

[Anonymous]

I do. I have a fully WFH university job, save for a handful of times per year I have to travel for in-person meetings. Pay is not great, but flexibility is wonderful and benefits are solid. Work is mostly interesting and I have smart, capable, nice coworkers for the most part.

[Anonymous]

Will depend hugely on the role and also on the university. For example, admissions at smaller cash-strapped schools is often a high-pressure sales job while at other schools it might be very different.

[Anonymous]

It was the least professional place I've ever worked. It didn't pay very well, but it was worth it for the few years I spent there to get free tuition.

[Anonymous]

Worked at universities for over 15 years. Pay is terrible and depending on your office work life balance is also terrible. The quality of benefits has decreased. It is only worth it for tuition discounts for a masters. Benefits for children are non-existant but are still are good in some places.

[Anonymous]

I worked at top ones. If you get high up, it can be great. There can be good work life balance depending on the role and benefits like tuition and time off. But generally pay is poor, lots of politics, tons of nepotism, and some people couldn't hack it in the real world. People rarely leave top positions, can be slow to advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worked at top ones. If you get high up, it can be great. There can be good work life balance depending on the role and benefits like tuition and time off. But generally pay is poor, lots of politics, tons of nepotism, and some people couldn't hack it in the real world. People rarely leave top positions, can be slow to advance.

It drove me crazy how slow moving most departments were. I worked in a fast moving area with pressure to make targets, and at times it felt like my brain was melting dealing with other departments and how incompetent they were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worked at top ones. If you get high up, it can be great. There can be good work life balance depending on the role and benefits like tuition and time off. But generally pay is poor, lots of politics, tons of nepotism, and some people couldn't hack it in the real world. People rarely leave top positions, can be slow to advance.

This depends on what you think of as great. A Dean at an Ivy can make low 100k and work 24 hours. After awhile, fringe benefits just don't cut it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked at top ones. If you get high up, it can be great. There can be good work life balance depending on the role and benefits like tuition and time off. But generally pay is poor, lots of politics, tons of nepotism, and some people couldn't hack it in the real world. People rarely leave top positions, can be slow to advance.

This depends on what you think of as great. A Dean at an Ivy can make low 100k and work 24 hours. After awhile, fringe benefits just don't cut it.

Pp here. *24 hours a day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worked at universities for over 15 years. Pay is terrible and depending on your office work life balance is also terrible. The quality of benefits has decreased. It is only worth it for tuition discounts for a masters. Benefits for children are non-existant but are still are good in some places.

+1

Any tuition discounts are menial, and only after a set number (5 or 10, depending on the school) of years, in recent years. University benefits used to be good, and competent people used to be in charge. Now the staff is mostly high school education only, and the higher ups are not going anywhere soon. Which doesn't sound bad, until you are the one getting blamed for nothing and beating your head against a wall trying to get the simplest thing accomplished. Turnover is greater than you could ever imagine. Also, in many cases, especially in cities, DEI is at play. Can't recommend it to anyone.

What role are you considering, OP?