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Howard Hughes Medical Institute Reviews
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    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Reviews

    Updated August 10, 2017
    178 reviews

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    4.0
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute President Erin O'Shea
    Erin O'Shea
    15 Ratings

    178 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • Doesn't seem to be much room for career advancement unless you get an advanced degree (in 6 reviews)

    • Upper management has gone through changes and has started to limit/remove benefits that were once available (in 6 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Working at Janelia Research Campus"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Research Technician
      Former Employee - Research Technician

      I worked at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Great benefits, friendly staff, collaborative and creative environment

      Cons

      Very rigid job descriptions for research technicians who are on large, multi-lab projects.

    2. "Great Place to Work!"

      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 Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time

      Pros

      Teamwork, Flexibility, Benefits, Competitive Salaries, Great People!

      Cons

      None that I can think of.

      Advice to Management

      Maintain the current environment by communicating down. Other than that, great work!

      3. Join the Howard Hughes Medical Institute team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "HHMI"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Lab Manager in Boston, MA
      Current Employee - Lab Manager in Boston, MA

      I have been working at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      HHMI provides great benefits. The local science office in Boston is extremely helpful and proactive.

      Cons

      Salary is based more on age than ability, and sometimes fails to match salaries host institution offers. Upper management has gone through changes and has started to limit/remove benefits that were once available.

    4. "Senior Scientist"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Very nice colleagues, high standards of research, approachable people

      Cons

      Lately the morale feels really low, as if the place is falling down.

      Advice to Management

      Please communicate the policies to the employees. Many cuts are happening and nobody knows who is next to go.

    5. "Fellow"

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

      I have been working at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Amazing benefits including 403b contributions and 15 days/year PTO starting

      Cons

      Poor senior management who do not embody HHMI stated mission or culture

    6. "Awesome place to work and learn"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Engineering Technician in Ashburn, VA
      Current Employee - Engineering Technician in Ashburn, VA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Very supportive group that moves at fast pace to create tools and make discoveries.

      Cons

      I have a long commute.

      Advice to Management

      Keep up the good work

    7. "great benefits, abundant resources"

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

      I have been working at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      - great benefits (health/dental/vision)
      - competitive pay by academic research standards
      - very helpful HR staff
      - abundant monetary resources, which reduces anxiety concerning project funding

      Cons

      none to share as of yet

    8. Helpful (7)

      "Good Benefits, Okay Salary, "Higher Education" Management"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Director in Chevy Chase, MD
      Former Employee - Director in Chevy Chase, MD
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Mission supporting basic Science is very good, incredible facilities at HQ (solid walls and doors, Top technology in conference rooms, campus environment, heavily subsidized cafeteria). Salaries are okay, benefits a bit above average (but trending downwards).

      Cons

      Management follows a "Higher Education" trend so each new President brings in new top tier leadership. Most are Scientists only slightly removed from working in a lab, so have very little understanding of true "business" operations. Yet mostly believe that because they are good/great Scientists, they can easily do good/great "business leadership". Unfortunately for HHMI staff, the transitive property in business operations does not work that way.

      Advice to Management

      Stay focused on the mission of doing and supporting the science. Listen to functional experts on process improvement, but make sure they have actually performed what they are advocating. Check motivations behind complaints. If you want real change and modern standards, avoid putting 30+ year employees who have no substantial external experience, into lab/customer facing leadership roles.

    9. "Practically my dream job"

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

      I have been working at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Working at Janelia is definitely one of the best experiences I've had. The campus is breathtaking and the vibe you get here is so positive, it makes you really feel like you're making a difference. We get to go to talks (free!) from world-class scientists and be surrounded by cutting-edge technology.

      Cons

      We had free fruit, but people ruined it.
      The glass building is cool but try walking down the hall on a sunny day, and you wish you'd remembered your sunglasses.
      The food is okay, but it's really cheap, so you can't really complain.

      Advice to Management

      I wish people on the lower end would be kept more up-to-date. Having to find out things about your lab from the website does make one feel pretty inadequate.

    10. "Research Scientist"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Research Scientist in Ashburn, VA
      Current Employee - Research Scientist in Ashburn, VA
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Howard Hughes Medical Institute full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Stimulating environment, great research and facilities, good benefits (except for postdocs)

      Cons

      Few opportunities for career advancement for research staff, significant turnout among research group leaders

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