Social Security Administration Reviews

Pros

The STEP program is a great internship for students. Meant for students who receive financial aid to pay tuition, it offers good compensation and a lot of professional/social development.

Cons

You get to see some of the flaws in government agencies. Some of the waste in time and resources can get frustrating.

Advice to Senior Management

Management should make sure that all employees are trained to deal with all kinds of issues and technology. Considering that a lot of the information is still not digitized, this could cause a lot of trouble and waste in time

Pros

People respect each other, you get paid holidays, you get OT opportunities, there is a relaxed environment, and great benefits.

Cons

Some people might take the relaxed work environment too far. There isn't a lot of office culture. People sometimes are closed off to others.

Advice to Senior Management

Make the office more engaging, have more events where people get to know each other, have more out of work meetings.

Pros

Social Security is a very stable organization with locations all over the country. There is a lot of opportunity for advancement, although moves may be necessary. The work is extremely challenging and much more difficult than one might think.

Cons

Regulations are constantly changing so you must read and research new policies. You must be able to manage time extremely well, and with a smile.

Advice to Senior Management

Think about how you make your employees feel. If you want to motivate them, do it in a way that makes them feel good. You may say that integrity is important, but you must walk the talk!

Pros

The job is very stable.

Cons

Really stressfull if you are at the window.

Advice to Senior Management

New employees are overload with documenting every single client they service. The should change the thorough documentation in the training process.

Pros

decent benefits and time off
Training

Cons

strong favoritism
inconsistencies
lack of care by management
ineptness of supervisors
lack of positive feedback, even when deserved
bedbugs
supervisors lie about you on mentor and trainee reports
bad neighborhood
That combined federal campaign is no substitute for private charitable giving

Advice to Senior Management

Better train your middle management
Have more consistency in how yo u train

Pros

Good management, good advancement opportunities, good pay for an internship

Cons

A lot of customer service

Advice to Senior Management

Keep doing a good job

Pros

Excellent work-life balance
Excellent benefits
Case load will keep you busy
Excellent opportunity to stay with Agency and advance professionally

Cons

Office environment can remind a new attorney of a law school section
Work load may become somewhat repetitive once mastered

Advice to Senior Management

I would suggest working on providing more resources for Attorney Advisors in the form of paying bar dues and offering time off for CLE's.

Pros

pay is good, flex time, don't have to take your work home with you, opportunities for advancement if the manager likes you. Job security.

Cons

management is unfair in giving out bonuses, fast-tracking their favorite employees, and allowing certain employees to transfer to other offices. Very political work environment-- it's not what you know, it's who you know and which managers will make you their pet. Managers are not good leaders and demean their employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Pursue leadership development opportunities on your own time. If morale is low in your office and your employees have poor attitudes, I implore you to search within yourself. Attitude is a reflection of leadership.

Pros

job security, benefits ok, pay ok

Cons

promotions arent fair, incompetent managers

Advice to Senior Management

most managers need training

Pros

Job security.
Benefits overall, but especially time off.
Opportunity to contribute to social service.
The Agency is truly committed to a diverse workforce.
Opportunities to work OT for some extra income.

Cons

Very poor, even unstable, systems .....1970's DOS based technology for primary systems.......very user unfriendly and conducive to making errors. Policies and procedures are redundant and unduly complex. There is a huge opportunity to improve efficiency and accuracy by improving systems and streamlining policies..

"Up through the ranks" managers and mentors with poor inter-personal and management skills seem to bear resentment towards new hires who come to the agency well credentialed from the outside. I was shocked by the demeaning treatment I received after "graduating" from a lenghty training program.

Advice to Senior Management

The Agency has a noble mission, but they need to take a hard look at their culture and how they operate.