The Open University Reviews

Former Employee – worked at The Open University full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Relaxed environment, freedom to do research without bothering with undergraduate students.

Cons – A little bit isolated, but that has some advantages too.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at The Open University full-time for more than a year

Pros – Whilst I was there I met lovely people, the pay was great and if you enjoy the work and want to progress, there are plenty of internal opportunities. The work is quite varied with the day divided into being on the telephone and email correspondence, also with occasional paper-work.

Cons – Personally the work I did there wasn't what I wanted for a career. The role was in a customer service, which was mostly call centre based. The customers could sometimes be extremely impolite and overly-demanding. The amount of knowledge advisers where expected to retain was large, this isn't a problem, but other departments didn't appreciate the work put in by the teams in customer service...which could be frustrating! Despite the good pay and great team I couldn't stay there for much longer then a couple of years, it just wasn't for me!

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

Current Employee – been working at The Open University

Pros – Very friendly, comfortable work environment, lots of opportunities to enhance your qualifications along with working full-time.

Cons – Salaries are not as competitive as commercial sector.

Advice to Senior Management – Consider paying more to keep the talent around.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Open University

Pros – The OU has a great reputation an is a privilege to be associated with it.
There is great opportunity to be part of a wonderful mission of providing educational access to the many

Cons – Like many big institutions the OU is bureaucratic, and processes can take a long time to come to fruition

Advice to Senior Management – Remain true to your mission

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at The Open University

Pros – they overpay you and with ridiculous ceiling - so earn more at the beginning and leave within 2-3 years

Cons – you work with sub-standard senior people, just talk and no action, The so-called vision is laughable.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Open University

Pros – The OU offers great benefits, like flexible working, 6 weeks paid holiday plus bank holidays, free study. The pay is good compared to other companies in Milton Keynes.

Cons – Support staff grades, have little chance of career advancement, to admi/ management grades despite gaining all relevant degrees etc. There are no career paths in place and appears to have a glass ceiling that support staff are unable to break through, made worse by the current economic climate.

Advice to Senior Management – There should be clear career paths for support staff, more training grades so they can get the experience they need. Following the prinicpal of growing your own managers, would show great commitment to staff.