Pros
As everyone and their mother has mentioned on here, the benefits. They are great. There were so many Harvard-related offerings I wanted to take advantage of, and yet I soon found myself asking the question with dismay: WITH WHAT TIME OR ENERGY?!
Cons
I spent less than a year in Alumni Affairs & Development aka AA&D (because here, even names of people are reduced to acronyms in an effort to save time, which is as precious and fugitive as the Golden Snitch). I barely escaped with my mental health. Everyone here is stressed out of their ever-loving minds. Worse yet is the culture of sorority-esque chipperness, phony facades smiling and excessively thanking (This is an honor for me/ No, it’s a greater honor for me / No, a greater honor for ME / And you must be Don Francisco’s sister / No, YOU must be Don Francisco’s sister) rather than bear the great shame of confessing to feeling overwhelmed. The sorority description is apt, if I do say, because the office of 300-400 or whatever is just about as diverse as one. In fact, you may look around and wonder if you ever left college at all! This is what Harvard loves to do: hire bright-eyed, unsuspecting, VERY recent college grads to fill promising-sounding Staff Assistant positions, while actually tricking them into performing the function of an EXECUTIVE Assistant (nay, two Executive Assistants) because it’s cheaper than hiring appropriately. The turnover rate is staggering, and this is why. HR knows this is why, but they are only there to serve the managers, not the lowly assistants. Granted, some Staff Assistant roles are doable, maybe even enjoyable, which is great for those people, but a gigantic injustice to the ones who have the same title and salary and yet are treated like Dobby the house elf. If you want to move up the ladder, have fun as a Coordinator! There are so many convoluted procedures in this office, so many “training” sessions to attend while you are also expected to jump into your role and keep on top of things, so much pressure to never make a mistake, to not take a real lunch, to utilize every single second of the day in proactive productivity so help you God. Corporate culture has thoroughly infiltrated. I got a look inside the belly of the beast, and it left me rather disgusted and disappointed.