MIT Reviews

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – (1) working with the best minds in research; (2) fantastic research resource and infrastructure; (3) great collaboration opportunities.

Cons – Work life balance is important in this research-intense institution.

Advice to Senior Management – N/A

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

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time for more than a year

Pros – The best way to complement a PhD in the sciences is with a Postdoc at MIT.

Cons – *High-stress alert*, so you better actively plan for some intense de-stressing activities. Also people like to stay indoors and work all the time. But if you like to work and you are super smart (like 98% of the people here), then this place might just feel like home.

Advice to Senior Management – Tell your graduate students 'good job' every once in a while. While these kids are super smart (too smart?), they just need some positive feedback once in a while (like everybody else).

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

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The faculty and financial resources are better than at any other academic research institute I know of (from conversations with peers). There is (for better or worse) quite a large value associated with the name, and with this comes an expectation to publish in high-impact journals.

Cons – The expectation to publish in high-impact journals creates a high-stress situation, since for the most part the research is conducted in very fast-moving fields.

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

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – MIT is one of the best places to be if you're driven, passionate, curious, and mature.
The people are extremely smart but also collaborative, and are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.
Great location - Cambridge is a lot of fun!
Lots of clubs and a great sense of community outside of work

Cons – MIT is not a very caring environment, and if you're feeling a bit lost or in need of resources, you're pretty much on your own. This is especially true for undergraduate and graduate students. I'm told there are more significant resources for staff and junior faculty.
It gets pretty cold in Massachusetts.
Many buildings on campus are from the 1960s (i.e. they are ugly), and you won't find the same presence of the humanities as on other top university campuses

Advice to Senior Management – Invest in making MIT more comfortable and caring, for example by setting up more lounges, hiring more young people as staff, etc.

– I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – there is a lot to learn, the experience is overall nice, amazing people from all over the world

Cons – the salary is low, high level of commitment, most weekends in the lab

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time for more than a year

Pros – Close relationship with industry
Many other postdocs to share experience
Postdoctoral Association

Cons – Many Postdocs in the area to compete with
Low salary common to all postdocs
Long hours expected

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

Former Employee – worked at MIT full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great colleagues and environment. Relaxed atmosphere was conducive to allow flexibility.

Cons – Salary was not always in line with industry standards.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time

Pros – Open environment. People are very smart and friendly. You can manage your time freely. It should be nice experience if you want to apply to a graduate school in the future.

Cons – It's not a real industry, so you should keep an eye on what real industry wants to focus on its next research topic.

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time for more than a year

Pros – - Fantastic health/retirement benefits. 5% employer match for 401k, plus a pension after 3 years of service
- Competitive pay
- Interesting, creative, often brilliant colleagues
- Diverse range of growth opportunities
- Commitment by administration to create the best work environment possible
- Great time off benefits

Cons – - Very competitive, prestigious environment means that managers in some departments (especially those with a history at MIT) make excessive demands on time
- Workloads in some departments can be unrealistic

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

Current Employee – been working at MIT full-time for more than a year

Pros – Very good benefits, and a lot of freedom to pursue your work and build professional connections. There is a lot going on at different parts of the institute and MIT can provide a good launching pad for a research career.

Cons – MIT is large and there is a lot going on. It is easy to feel lost or isolated, especially if your work is independent and you don't have much supervision. Human Resources can be very bureaucratic and any adminstrative problems with salary, benefits, etc. can be tricky to fix.

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