Pros
Positive/helpful colleagues, good time off benefits, full benefits package. - When you first start out, this is a great first job because it is a good reflection of the importance of mental health care services, how overworked the employees are, and how underserved the population is. This may not seem like a Pro, but it is important for those following the psych/social work path to realize that this is the field. Days are stressful, work is a lot, but at the end of it, you learn an incredible amount about patient care in the mental health and addictions field. Working at CPC, interning at CPC, prepares you well. For a fresh undergrad, with no real life work experience, the pay is decent especially with a Psych degree. You can't really get much better. *Additional Note: Frankly, I never felt to negative while I was working at CPC. I was surrounded by supporting and caring colleagues whom I could lean on when things got rough or when I needed motivation. My job description allowed me to expand my knowledge base, I learned an incredible amount, and for the most part I've had a positive experience while working. However a great deal of this positive experience was a result of having a positive outlook. The days were long and stress-filled, paperwork was at times literally too much for 1 person to handle, and many days included barely being at my desk because of having to figure out and handle multiple problems. At the end of it, keeping a positive outlook helped the days go by quicker and easier. And, for me, I knew I was not in the field for the long run
Cons
1.Having to schedule time off around other employees, even if it is Your earned time off. 2. Management is ready to let capable and hardworking employees go (if you don't like it, the door is right there attitude), when those employees are willing to speak up against certain practices that do not seem to be helping patients, if anything they enable them. 3. Work load is too much for the amount of employees working. There are not enough Doctors, not enough therapists to see Everyone. As a result the patients are not getting adequate care, and the employees are tired. Employees often have to put in more hours just to play catch up on paperwork and when they feel unvalued, it becomes a mentally exhausting set up. They aren't able to give 100% to the patients they serve as a result and it becomes a vicious cycle. 4. Often unless you plan on pursuing social work and being a counselor, you can grow from a CM role. 5. pay will be stagnant. No raises even if the employees do great year after year on their reviews or put in those extra hours, It's usually just a 2% COL increase. Pay gaps exist. Employees who are new and in the same "role" might be making a couple thousand more than those who have been there for several years, do a pretty great job daily, and know the job well.
