Stanford University Reviews

Pros

1. huge amount of resources;
2. talented partners;
3. Fundings

Cons

1. Competition is always fairly fierce

Advice to Senior Management

Good job

Pros

No set hours, so works well with a student's schedule. The pay is very reasonable as well, considering the amount of hours one actually puts in. Also, get good room selection

Cons

Have to be more or less on call for resident issues. If something goes wrong at the house that you're managing at, no matter the situation, you have to be responsive and available.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the great work.

Pros

Flexible working hours and understanding management. Perfect place for a busy student to pickup hours to a little extra cash.

Cons

There was no support for people who wanted to advance their careers, however this was not a problem for me as it was a temporary job.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work! I think the management would do better to coordinate their efforts as well as establish a clearer chain of command so that employees know their responsibilities.

Pros

Tuition benefit. Vacation and sick leave policy. Good weather. Cooperative work environment. Easy access to some most current events. Interact with some very intellect people.

Cons

Relatively low salary. Too relaxed. Have to for your own lunch. Less challenge in some area. Parking can be expensive

Pros

I really learn a lot about the field of work, but at the same time I discovered somethings I hate the most; work politics.

Cons

There are a lot of politics here, doesn't matter what department you work at. I am very fortunate to have a great supervisor.

Advice to Senior Management

some senior leadership members lack the ability to communicate with others. Often times, I'd say, most it comes off as being arrogant.

Pros

Great place for collaboration. Number of amazing postdocs who can run their own labs but still stuck here due to limited number of academic jobs.

Cons

No work life balance. "Work until you produce the beautiful graph and we dont care how mnay hours a week you put in" seems to be the motto of this place.

Advice to Senior Management

Please appreciate the fact that research is a noble cause and postdocs work for peanuts ! So please create a safety net and monitor the PI -postdoc relationships. Encourage postdoc committees that
work like grad student committees.

Pros

work with excellent young people

Cons

politics of system can make it challenging

Advice to Senior Management

more personal responsibility and accountability

Pros

Stanford name recognition carries more weight outside the university.
Great employee transit and wellness programs.
Opportunities to work with brilliant scholars and physicians.
Some faculty are leaders in their fields or specialties.
Plenty of funding for equipment.
Beautiful campus, if you can ever get outside to see it.

Cons

Position demands no-mistakes expertise and skills, but no actual training is provided.
Work weeks average 50-60 hours with no overtime pay or extra comp time.
Lunch breaks are usually not possible in this position. Some days are 11 hours with no breaks.
Salary is totally inadequate for the hours, workload, and degree of technical specialization required.
High-pressure environment with no slow periods leads to stress, burnout, and disengagement.
My program wastes a minimum of 10-15 hours a week in meetings, delaying actual work.
Aggressive, territorial employees seize any opportunity to attack coworkers via email.
Excess management in some departments; managers often do not work as many hours.
Worship of administrative process results in wasted time, frustration, and endless email chains.
No control over workflow, schedule, pace, or assignment of additional duties.
No room for advancement or meaningful salary increases without changing departments.
Poor-quality support from IT and HR departments.
Employee grievances are given lip-service at best, HR enforcement is a joke for non-union workers.
Cost of living in the surrounding areas is among the highest in the US, no housing assistance.
'Stanford Effect' leads to needless complications in almost every project.
Much of what's promoted as original and innovative at Stanford is actually neither of those things.

Advice to Senior Management

Do a better job of policing supervisors. Don't assume the Stanford name justifies low pay. Ban overtime-exempt classification for non-management positions. Give employees with abusive supervisors some meaningful way of addressing working conditions- normal HR channels are ineffective.

Pros

World-class scientific resources and environment. Flexible collaboration between departments and groups.

Cons

University policies are very rigid

Pros

A beautiful campus, home to some of the most ground-breaking research in the world, amazing students, and more

Cons

A bit too much of "the Stanford bubble," you feel left out of the hustle and bustle of non-University life. A little too staid and hierarchical

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work but push the boundaries more. Stanford has an enormous impact on the rest of higher education through what it does. How Stanford approaches admissions, development, public relations, and more, in the context of a highly unequal American society (with the backdrop of Occupy Wall Street), makes a huge difference. The University needs to expand its scope, help under-privileged students get in as well as succeed, and facilitate change on a broad scale in the United States. Or at least that would be my dream...