employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Harvard University

Is this your company?

Hit and Miss. Great benefits, frustrating workplace culture. - Coordinator Harvard University Employee Review

3.0
Jul 6, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you're in an admin job, you'll be part of HUCTW, which is great. It means a guaranteed 3.5 percent raise, super comprehensive health benefits (very low monthly premium for 100% coverage, you'll never see a bill), and basically job security for life. Not the most time off in the world, but more than you'll find in the private sector (not as much as other institutions like NYU or Big Ten Schools though). If you're in an exempt role, not as cushy of benefits/job security, but you'll get more time off. Huge pro: employees can take classes for free.

Cons

Harvard can be a great place or horrible place to work. The workplace culture largely dependent on the school/center/division you work for, since Harvard is so decentralized. The Harvard Business School runs a tight ship. People who work there often burn out after a couple of years then run away, but usually have results to put on their resumé. The med school/school of public health are very low key, casual. The Law School and Kennedy School are high pressure but people are pretty reasonable (which is not the case at HBS). Although they can feel like Mad Men at times due to annoyingly persistent gender roles (lots of pretty blonde girls supporting old white men). The Harvard Extension School/Division of Continuing Education are a sinking ship and I've never met anyone who liked working there - I highly advise against that. Other con: it takes 3 years for your retirement to be vested, also can be very difficult to grow/be promoted. Too often people are "promoted" to a job that pays exactly the same. Lastly, it can be frustrating place to work due to Harvard's obsession with good press. Harvard is at the forefront of knowledge, with more money than other university in the world. They should be taking risks everyday, but Harvard's senior leadership is too focused on maintaining a positive image and decreasing any kind of risk to ever let that happen, which is truly a shame.

Explore other reviews about Harvard University

5.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Working at Harvard as a teaching fellow is Intellectually stimulating.

Cons

Working as a Teaching Fellow is not financially rewarding.

5.0
Jun 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You work with experts from every field possible in science from Mechanobiology to Metallurgy and working as a ML intern along with scientists from different fields gave me a lot of exposure and how to work in a research department.

Cons

One challenge encountered was maintaining a clear focus on training objectives, as the evolving parameters required continuous reassessment of the model's learning priorities. Additionally, the absence of established ground truth for the domain presented a limitation in validating and guiding the approach effectively.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All