It was the best of times, it was the worst of times - Assistant Director Harvard University Employee Review

I spent most of my years in the Alumni Affairs and Development Office. It was a good start, but after numerous restructurings over the years, management cared less and less about work-life balance. By the end of my time there, I was routinely putting in 60 to 70 hours per week, and a brutal deadline schedule kept me from taking time off. There was a narrow window of about a month where everyone in the office had to compete for vacation time—and even then—vacation time felt more like working remotely, because you always had to check in. The culture became especially miserable after the budget cuts following the recession, and never really improved. We were asked to take on more and more—raises were tiny, and we were told a “C is the new A” when it came to performance evaluations. After demonstrating that I was doing way more than what was on my job description, management spent two years making vague promises to re-evaluate my job grade. It never happened. Ultimately, AA&D’s culture was oppressive in its micromanaging, and the bullying was pervasive. Quality of life became more to me important than the positive aspects of Harvard. By the time I left, it was a nasty, toxic atmosphere, with a high turn-over rate among staff.