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Northwestern University

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Terrible Senior Leadership, No Advancement Opportunities - Anonymous employee Northwestern University Employee Review

2.0
Jul 25, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The benefits and pay are good for the amount of work expected--which is not a lot during slower times in the year. Most staff is collaborative and interested in improving the student experience. Depending on your supervisor and department, it can be a great place to just bide your time and gain skills.

Cons

No real room for promotions or movement within departments--it's impossible to get new jobs created/approved, which is especially unfortunate for those who have put in a few years and are looking to expand their responsibilities and pay. Some students are great but administrators coddle many students and create unreasonable expectations about the level of support that will be provided. Many members of senior leadership have very difficult personalities. I was extremely unlucky to have the supervisor I had. It colored my entire experience and made it impossible to stay in the position. Other support staff have different experiences and it really depends on the directors/senior leadership that you're working with. The responsibilities and expectations are not unreasonable but navigating the politics and personalities is tiring and emotionally draining.

Explore other reviews about Northwestern University

5.0
Jul 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Great work experience, and I got to work with a professor during the process.

Cons

Can be more difficult to get higher pay

4.0
Jul 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's steady and stable money. Coworkers can be great, and benefits can be good**

Cons

They recently changed all of the benefits due to the government administration pulling federal funding. They changed from Blue Cross Blue Shield to United so the insurance is pretty bad now, with higher premiums and higher copays. You get a 90% discount on tuition, yet also about 97% of the graduate programs are when you'd be working during a 9-5. So it's nearly impossible to actually utilize your tuition discount. There were a lot of budget cuts, and 3% bonuses were one of the first to go. Your base pay is usually underpaid because it's higher education/nonprofit, and the 3% raise is barely enough to cover the rise of cost of living. So now it's underpaid, bad or unusable benefits, and low morale because there were also so many layoffs with the rest of the employees having to do the work of multiple people. Systems in the university are antiquated and it takes forever for anything to get done and most of it is trial and error. They say there is mobility, but it's only lateral if you're lucky. I've been here for two years and there's been such high turnover in senior management including the President that everything feels up in the air.

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