Pros
-6% retirememt match -Access to discounts like movie tickets, car rentals,etc. -good health insurance -sometimes you can get a really good manager/mentor!
Cons
-the annual review system is unfair. Even if your direct supervisor says you deserve all 5's because of your hard work, the department can tell them to only give you 3's on a 5-point scale - research staff are incredibly underpaid and are the backbone of the public health school. Even with a $120,000 MPH degree from their school, I started out making only $42,000 (in 2019). I had to live in affordable housing for the first few years -there is a ton of turnover, since the pay is so low for the area (i.e. you will be doing your job and the job of the person who left and training the next candidate) -sometimes you can get a really bad manager (it's academia, professors are fighting for their pay to increase too, so they often take on too many projects or classes and step on folks (i.e. you or community partners) on their way up. It feels like a dog eat dog world.)