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US Forest Service Employee Reviews about "leadership"
Updated Nov 28, 2023
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Found 855 of over 1K reviews
66% Recommend to a Friend
63% Approve of CEO
Found 45 of over 1K reviews
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Vicki Christiansen
155 Ratings
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
Pros
- "Great people and fun to meet the people camping and enjoying the national forest and national parks." (in 83 reviews)
Cons
- "Hostile Work Environment: The agency is extremely cliquey; it pays poorly and employees are under chronic stress due to ongoing poor management and budget turmoil." (in 24 reviews)
- "Upper management is crippled by political influences and those hired to make decisions are incapable of thinking like a business person." (in 9 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of US Forest Service and is not affected by filters.
Reviews about "leadership"
Return to all Reviews- 4.0Jan 28, 2019Realty SpecialistCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsMountain Home, ID
Pros
Working with the Forest Service is wonderful. Good benefits, love to be outdoors on nice days and do my office work when weather is bad. All of my coworkers are great, relaxed, professional people.
Cons
As with any business, much of your experience is dependent on leadership. Right now my leadership is awesome if we got a new Ranger who was difficult to work with it would really change my rating.
- 4.0Aug 9, 2023Former SupervisorFormer Employee, more than 1 yearAlbuquerque, NM
Pros
Very mission focus with good senior leadership in Human Resources Management. Always concentrating on the greater good.
Cons
It can get overwhelming with vetting to get buy-in. All levels from bottom to top can be challenging. Execute work life balance and not just say the words.
- 5.0Jun 19, 2023InternCurrent Employee
Pros
Good company and leadership and people.
Cons
None at all. 5 word minimum.
- 2.0Jul 6, 2017Human Resource AssistantFormer Employee, more than 8 yearsAlbuquerque, NM
Pros
good hard working people there
Cons
micro management from leadership needs to change
1 - 3.0Jan 1, 2012US Forest ServiceCurrent EmployeeBoise, ID
Pros
The US Forest Service attracts talented employees with a "can do" attitude. Unfortunately in recent years we have not had the strategic vision and leadership that we had in past years when Jack Ward Thomas and Michael Dombeck were the Chief. Still the people are great, the mission is satisfying, and the work hours are flexible.
Cons
Pay has been frozen for three years. Bonuses and awards have been nearly abolished. Leadership appears out of touch with stakeholders and employee morale is in the pits.
1 - 1.0May 24, 2017Staff AssistantCurrent Employee
Pros
I was able to take a lateral transfer from within the same agency in a different state into this job.
Cons
Leadership acts like everything is okay. They know that we are short staffed. No promotion potential. Lack of appreciation.
- 4.0Jun 14, 2023NEPA Project ManagerCurrent EmployeeBoise, ID
Pros
Good mission, cool resources, nice people.
Cons
Leadership turnover is high. Politics heavily influence mission
- 4.0Feb 3, 2020VolunteerFormer Intern, less than 1 yearCorvallis, OR
Pros
Forest service is a really good place to work with great environment and great people working there. They're all really dedicated to their jobs and you can learn from them a lot if you are interested.
Cons
Lack of funding and with lack of leadership. Right now it's an institution in decline and that somites is bulling their employee to they don't research on tabu areas of research for the current administration. As a government organization, sometimes get resources is complicated business.
- 3.0Apr 27, 2020Intern/Seasonal EmployeeFormer Intern, more than 5 years
Pros
Worked with mostly wonderful, caring people with similar interests and values. You feel good about the work you're doing. You get to work in some really beautiful and amazing environments. Supervisor was pretty open and encouraging for us to take advantage of opportunities for learning and leadership roles. Might get to work on unique projects that most people would never get the opportunity to do. Fun job if you're young and just looking for a outdoorsy summer job and not looking to pursue a career with the Forest Service. There's often staffing gaps so you do get to learn to play a lot of roles trying to fill them.
Cons
Stuck working there for many years as a temp/contract employee, so less job and financial security and less benefits and union rights, and less mobility than permanent employees. I knew people that worked there for many years and were practically running the show but could not get hired in a permanent position. Pay wasn't great but it's expected in the public sector but somehow you still end up working very hard despite knowing you don't get much for it. Benefits I hear are really good and kinda make up for the low pay, but only if you're permanent. Leadership seems generally supportive of staff, but after years of people complaining about job insecurity and feeling like cheap labor, it's just kinda been continually brushed off. Perpetually scraping for funding for projects and programs really killed morale too. Can be very political working for a federal agency so that bogged down some progress too. Because the skills I gained were most applicable to Forest Service jobs (who else would pay someone to take care of the land beside government or non-profits?), it was hard finding a good job outside Forest Service. A lot of people struggled passing the USAjobs application process even if they were great candidates. Opportunities to take on more advance responsibilities or variety of roles but mostly because there's staffing gaps so you may not really get adequate training in your new responsibilities and have to navigate a steep learning curve.
- 4.0Jul 6, 2018ForesterCurrent Employee, more than 10 yearsWashington, DC
Pros
Amazing people, meaningful work, opportunities to excel.
Cons
Worst HR operation on the planet. Why is this tolerated? Leadership seems to think this is normal and okay. It is neither.
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