City of Hope Reviews

I worked at City of Hope part-time for less than a year

Pros – A very good opportunity to get used to the feel of working an actual job. Very flexible. Many opportunities to learn new things.

Cons – You tend to always be on the move. Some days can be a little more stressful than others, but that comes with any job.

Advice to Senior Management – The Volunteer Services Department could keep in better contact with their volunteers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at City of Hope full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – The mission, the benefits, salary is competitive, most of all the people. Some of my best friends are or were co-workers at one point or another.

Cons – Current crop of leadership is rapidly turning the culture corporate. Rather than work together to meet the institution's goals and further the mission, they seem to have devolved to the point of infighting and power struggles, sort of like City of Hope cutting off its nose to spite its face. The politics of the place have turned toxic.

Decisions are made on the fly by upper management in my department with no thought given to the current knowledge base of the employees that are going to be implementing and dealing with the results of their decisions, and any disagreement leads to an employee being red-flagegd for increased scrutiny.

VP-level leadership seems to have been taken over by corporate sharks, and it really shows in the way the lower level employees are starting to be treated, especially in the way layoffs (they call them "restructurings") are handled. One minute someone's an employee, the next they're told to clean out their desk and leave the building, no warning, no chance for a knowledge transfer, not even a chance to say goodbye to co-workers, just...poof. It leaves a strangely fatalistic and existentially bleak work environment for those left behind. What's the point of anything if you can be let go for seemingly no reason at a moment's notice?

Advice to Senior Management – Take a step back. Take a hard, honest look, free of any politics, stories or personal justifications, at what's happening around you and ask yourself if it's helping or hurting the mission of this great institution.

Management through fear will only make people work hard enough not to get fired, and will only make them loyal to you for as long as it takes to find another job.

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 City of Hope full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – The mission. City of Hope's patient care is some of the best anywhere and the doctors and caregivers really, really care about the patients. Research is fantastic. Culture in parts of the organization are great

Cons – Executive management is either not strong or inconsistent across various departments. Culture and morale in the Philanthropy department is especially poor due to weak management.

Advice to Senior Management – Suggest greater accountability, transparency and work harder on the culture in some departments.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at City of Hope full-time for more than a year

Pros – Everyone is warm and friendly.
A lot of events aimed at making employees feel valued.
A lot of resources for furthering your knowledge, such as courses on clinical trials design.
Core facilities for research are quite good.
GMP facility to enhance bench to bedside research.

Cons – Lots of red tape: a committee for every tiny detail, even hanging a coat rack needs "approval"

Endless requirements for safety training and ethics

Research staff are not treated like there is any understanding for hours committed to work, for instance working double digit hours per day and on weekends gives no additional compensation, however you are not allowed to "compensate" these hours by taking a day off at any point without declaring "vacation" (which there is not very much of).

I hear the postdoc salaries here are considered very low.

Advice to Senior Management – BRI staff should not be asked to abide by a 9-5 policy where we get nothing for those extra hours but are essentially punished (must use vacation time) for trying to rearrange our work schedule to work a reasonable number of hours every now and then.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at City of Hope part-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Bench to bedside approach to patient care
100% health insurance coverage to full time employees
Activities and events for employees
Safe environment

Cons – Only about 6 paid holidays per year
Very little vacation time
Too much bureaucracy to navigate through
Human resources is overwhelmed

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at City of Hope

Pros – It had nice and clean facilities.

Cons – Management and HR was not very helpful.

I have been working at City of Hope full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Little stress, friendly and open-minded people, good lab funding

Cons – Location (too far from civilization), bureaucracy (things are changing, but not always in the right direction), limited resources

Advice to Senior Management – Be closer to real life, be more transparent. Although the changes made in the last 1-2 years are quite inspiring

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at City of Hope full-time for more than a year

Pros – study for PhD program without paying tuition fee and earning money.

Cons – stipend is about 30000 per year. The studying time might vary from 4 to 6 years.

Advice to Senior Management – Strong interest in biological sciences is required.

I have been working at City of Hope full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – The mission statement is wonderful; the goals and efforts to help humanity are spot on. The politics, diminish the value of working for this organization.

Cons – Integrity is not trait found with in the leadership. Honesty, trust and value in people is lost with in the management. Staff are considered disposable. Much more than in today's business mentality. If you value your health, don't come work for this organization, you'll leave a wreck.

Advice to Senior Management – Integrity above all else is worth more than loyalty. Remember that you'll have higher moral standards with staff if they can trust the people they work for than fear them.

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 City of Hope full-time for more than a year

Pros – A staff member has the opportunity to work on multiple projects that are pathways to what is called "Bench to Bedside"... Meaning, you work on small to large efforts that lead to cures, or at the least, slowing down cancer and diabetes so that someone gets to live. Additionally, work hours are more than fair and most people from Directors to Admin coordinators seem to always be at least satisfied if not more than passionate about their day to day functions.

Cons – Working for a non-profit can have it's downsides as it is just that... a non-profit, not subject to profit sharing, stocks or bonuses. But the 401(k) equivalent is more than fair.

Advice to Senior Management – Invest and diversify your employees as it has been a fairly new initiative in the past 2 years with HR taking on a more "non academia" point of view. But some titles must be properly re-classed and salaries given to those who really deserve what that new title entails!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company