UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) Reviews

I worked at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – If you are about medicine then it's the place to be.
They are outsourcing the HR and IT.

Cons – if you not about the medicine stay away. UCSF is under tremendous stress to reduce costs and they are doing it by outsourcing all non medical jobs. They have outsources their HR to Irvine, they have outsourced their procurement system to Berkeley / Sci-quest. They must reduce their costs and employees sufferer.

Advice to Senior Management – Have the band play on.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – UCSF runs lean but employess are kept very busy so the work day goes by quickly.

Cons – In-Fighting is rampant and seems to be urged. Emphasis on doing the right thing for hard-working employees is ignored

Advice to Senior Management – UCSF Managment should be aware of how hostile the work environment is and how helpless employees are to change the system.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) full-time for more than a year

Pros – Since UCSF cares only about grant money, their name is highly respected by funding agencies. It may be easier to get your grant approved here than at a less well-known school. Get an NSF grant your first year and then run with it to somewhere else (they'll tell you this isn't possible, but they're lying).

Cons – Most graduate schools de-emphasize students' actual learning, teaching experience, and social life, which is made up for by the thrill of discovery and actually doing science. But UCSF's graduate program takes the cons to such an extreme that it can easily kill even the strongest enthusiasm for science. At UCSF graduate students are cheap skilled labor and absolutely nothing else. Expect no mentorship and only the most trivial of interaction with labmates. They boast about collaboration but it turns out that after rotations you're lucky if you're working with others at your bench, let alone the lab down the hall. UCSF might be suitable for post-docs or the most extreme of introverts, but if you're a graduate student and only normal science nerd levels of introvert, steer clear. Also, if you think non-translational (meaning non-medical) biology or any other science matters, you won't get along with anyone at this overgrown medical school.

Advice to Senior Management – Replace your graduate program with technician labor since that's all you really want anyway.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)

Pros – The benefits are the best thing at UCSF.

Cons – Have to be well-liked by management to get a promotion. It is very hard to get a raise at UCSF due to the bureaucracy of the organization. Also, it is a very racist place where there are very few people of color in management positions.

Advice to Senior Management – There needs to be monitoring of senior management and how they treat their employees. Promotions should be given on a yearly basis.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)

Pros – Agree like other posts that they have good benefits. Working on Parnassus campus has the best infrastructure.

Cons – In terms of administration (not research), mid-managers beware because the admins and senior managers are incompetent. However, this all depends on the department you. Some departments are better than others but overall it seems the bad depts outnumber the good. The bright admins or senior managers that exist soon leave for more money and better work environments. This then leaves behind the "lifers" and staff with limited skills to work with. If you start there thinking you can change it, there will be disappointment.

Advice to Senior Management – UCSF will continue and always lose talented staff because of their rigid staffing policies that limits growth, inability to address problem employees, and hiring unskilled staff.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)

Pros – The faculty are leaders in the their fields and most are very helpfull.

Cons – The culture at UCSF (parnassus campus) is very competitive and aggressive, there is no work/life balance for postdocs allowed in many labs. Postdocs are treated like second class citizens, used, abused and then give the boot in too many labs. Carreer development is not often encouraged, apart from publishing.

Advice to Senior Management – Postdoc deserve to be treated better than they currently are.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)

Pros – good pay & benefits, union protection, spellbinding cocktail party conversation based on daily hair raising insanity, when you leave you have no regrets, the bonding that happens under painful circumstances

Cons – working with deeply unhappy, bitter & obstructive people, drama, severe dysfunction, verbal abuse from arrogant doctors, being reposted to another division that doesn't have an office for you for more than a month so you work out of the library, starting a job with four people in a room without desks or phones for weeks sharing a single laptop, being directed to violate the law by ignorant & incompetent superiors

Advice to Senior Management – I know you passed JCAHO but clean up the violations anyways coz it's the right thing to do

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)

Pros – Benefits are good for less-than-full-time employees.

Cons – As a corporation masquerading as a scholarly establishment, the emphasis is pretty obviously focused on keeping power at the top. Anyone below senior administrator is going to find out right away their input means exactly zero. incompetence and blind obedience is often promoted. God have pity on anyone with an original idea, as administration will smite thee down with a bolt of lightning. Thou shalt not question the wisdom of those On-High. There is a reason why the turnover rate in most positions is higher than at McDonald's... because you find out right away that nobody gives a rat's ass. Best one can do is keep your mouth shut, nod when told what to do, and look for a better job elsewhere. I know my supervisor is constantly asking me about work opportunities at my other job... he hasn't figured out he's the last person on earth I'd want to work with a job where I'm appreciated as an individual with ideas and originality.

Advice to Senior Management – Remember these words: "It's not about you." The earth doesn't revolve around you. Get out of the way, let someone with some ideas come in and really improve the library.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) full-time

Pros – insurance benefits not worth the troublr though

Cons – overworked, verbal abuse, unorganized, lack of communication as a whole entity, coming from the top down negativity and lack of pt gone. i woild never have my care at my place of business its pathetic

Advice to Senior Management – too

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)

Pros – Exciting and beneficial research is generated here, which means you may interact with some brilliant and committed individuals in the course of your work.

Cons – The administrative structure is abysmal--classically caught between the need for high public accountability and the public perception that "administrative costs" are a waste of money, management systems are often poor...either inadequate or not adapted to the tasks at hand...and staff training in administrative processes, policies and systems is a disaster. At one time, in-person trainings were offered university-wide, infrequently, and only in an economically self-supporting manner--thus, due to "low enrollment," were frequently cancelled. Now many trainings are very poorly constructed online modules, overly complicated to access (permissions must be granted), and consisting of useless overviews, at best. In addition, due to economic constraints, tension is in the air, and all that was once bad is now exponentially worse.

Advice to Senior Management – In better times, I would say take administration seriously. Stop focusing so intently on keeping administrative salaries down, and instead focus on staff development and rewards. Allow for performance-based raises for staff, for heaven's sake. The system as-is either drives out or breaks the spirits of the exceptional, and encourages the unexceptional to hide in the folds forever. Now that the economic heat is on...good luck!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend