Vanderbilt University Employee Reviews about "low pay"

Pros

Flexible working hours, transportation covered by free bus pass

Cons

Graduate Student Health Insurance used to be great and recent changes have made it difficult to pay for specialist office visits and prescriptions.

Pros

It was a good summer job

Cons

stress and low pay was hard

Pros

prestige and resume booster for students wanting to find a job straight out of college

Cons

long hours and a 10 hour per week cap on pay is very discouraging for struggling college students

Pros

Fun people and positive work environment

Cons

Very hierarchical and low pay increases

Pros

Prestige, benefits. Interesting culture; lots of activities going on if you like academia.

Cons

MUST have at least a masters degree and preferably PhD to get anywhere beyond basic admin/clerical positions. I was happy in my staff position for 4 or 5 years, but without an advanced degree AND not being on faculty, there's no more room above me. Demands on my job make auditing a class or taking advantage of the tuition benefit nearly impossible. It's easy to get stuck on the hamster wheel if you're staff. I can't even make a lateral move, though I've tried applying to several other jobs within Vanderbilt. Human Resources is no help when trying to expand or change job duties --you will be considered only for jobs that are exactly like what you're already doing. [RANT: If I painted yellow squares on walls and the job I want to apply for says paint blue triangles on floors, I probably would not get past HR's screeners -- they are that dang narrow.] Oh, current software does not allow you to customize your resume and cover letter for every job either. You'd have to find the job, log out, log back in, customize your Res/CL, then re-find the job, then click the APPLY button. Unless you take it upon yourself to stay abreast of new office software, you'll likely fall behind your competitors. Much of the campus still uses Office 2003, some use Office 2007. There is an implicit 'dumbing down' of desktop software and not a lot of support for those who use Cognos, Crystal Reports, Access, or development of personal analytical tools. Benefits are skewed PRO faculty, PRO-children (For example, faculty get adoption/childbirth leave of 6 months; staff do not. Children get tuition discounts, but my 8 years of service does not entitle me to get tuition discounts for anyone other than myself.) I'm single, no kids, and I'm admin staff. I'm ready to leave as soon as I find another employer to match my current pay and benefits.

Pros

Good place to work, Management is really nice and good working environment for student worker

Cons

Hourly pay rate is low

Pros

Collegial atmosphere, beautiful grounds, nice perks in community

Cons

Parking is problematic in that it’s expensive (relative to pay) to get sticker and a bit far

Pros

Flexible, great benefits (PTO, Winterbreak, etc)

Cons

Doesn't pay well enough in comparison to other higher education institutions and businesses in the area

Pros

Has two month vocation with salary

Cons

Pay is a little bit low

Pros

Encourages personal growth. Great PTO. Surrounded by extremely smart individuals to learn from.

Cons

The pay grade is pretty low compared to other intro level jobs with a bachelors degree.