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    City of Seattle Reviews

    Updated November 6, 2018
    267 reviews

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    3.4
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    Recommend to a friend
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    Jenny Durkan
    1 Rating

    267 Employee Reviews

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    Pros

    • "Work life balance is great and you never have to talk your work home with you" (in 39 reviews)

    • "Truly great benefits package; some employees are exceptional co-workers; job stability" (in 32 reviews)

    Cons

    • "In general, upper management seems only to care about their politics rather than the well being of the staff" (in 6 reviews)

    • "After a while you realize no one takes you seriously because you're an intern" (in 5 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Great place to work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at City of Seattle full-time

      Pros

      the people.pay. benefits. management

      Cons

      If you hate government work not the place for you

    2. "Meter reader"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at City of Seattle full-time

      Pros

      Benefits, pay, upper management is nice, good work life balance

      Cons

      Some things progress slow to get done, working outdoors in the weather during winter time.

      3. Join the City of Seattle team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "system analyst"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      Pros

      The city is trying hard to be inclusive and address hiring inequality, pay inequality and issues within the city and the structure of city government. Benefits are good. Work life balance is valued whether or not the area you are in recognizes the idea. Pay is good.

      Cons

      Sometimes the city can't get out of its own way. way too long of a probation period. way too high of a hiring bar considering what type of work you'll be doing.

      Advice to Management

      If you say you want people to succeed and you have a really long probation period, it's wise to stand behind the new hire and see that they succeed.

    4. "Gubment"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at City of Seattle full-time

      Pros

      Good, steady employment that pays well.

      Cons

      Sloooow process, no bonuses. Very slooow.

    5. "Typical city/state government job"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Seasonal Laborer for Parks and Recreation in Seattle, WA
      Former Employee - Seasonal Laborer for Parks and Recreation in Seattle, WA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I worked at City of Seattle full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      You can work as hard or as little as you want.
      Nice co-workers.
      Chances for advancement and permanent placement if you are a good worker. But rising higher in the ranks would take years due to the grinding wheels of government jobs.
      Nice environment working for Parks and Recreation at their lovely city parks.
      Nice job to just go home and forget all while still getting paid a decent wage.

      Cons

      A little disorganized in getting a new employee started, having documentation on how to do things, or explaining procedure.
      Seasonal employees usually have to work more than one season before getting a permanent job.
      Some of the old-timers really don't do much work and management doesn't seem to care.
      Supervisors are often just senior personnel but aren't really equipped for management. It's a product of city/state government-type jobs.
      Other new seasonal employees may shirk their duties and still somehow get a permanent job.
      Getting one of these jobs is really on a who you know basis.

      Advice to Management

      Get more organized in your onboarding procedures. Your team can be more successful if you present organization from the get go. Otherwise they'll just follow the chaos and decide to do just minimal work.

    6. "Lots of Growth"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Senior Accountant in Seattle, WA
      Current Employee - Senior Accountant in Seattle, WA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I have been working at City of Seattle full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      There is lots of opportunities to learn and grow into new positions

      Cons

      disorganized when it comes to the systems used, lack of communication between departments

    7. "Senior Policy Advisor"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at City of Seattle full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      - Work life balance
      - Meaningful work, ability to impact city

      Cons

      - Bureaucracy
      - The City is behind in many ways including technology

    8. "Great benefits"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      Pros

      great benefits and time off

      Cons

      stronger leadership and support for staff

    9. "GIS Analyst (Electrical Engineering Specialist)"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Seattle, WA
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Seattle, WA

      I have been working at City of Seattle full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Great salary, great benefits, has a pension.

      Cons

      Office politics might not be a great fit for everyone. If you are not management, making that leap is difficult as they select management positions often from the outside.

    10. "Administrative Staff Assistant"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Administrative Staff in Seattle, WA
      Former Employee - Administrative Staff in Seattle, WA
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at City of Seattle (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      Great benefits. Many employees really care about making a difference in the quality of life for residents.

      Cons

      Too many people in higher level or management positions that are not suited to managing. There needs to be better training for managers. There also needs to be more opportunity for advancement.

      Advice to Management

      More training.

    Showing 267 of 326 reviews
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