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Northwestern University

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A decent place to work with completely incompetent management - Program Assistant Northwestern University Employee Review

2.0
Sep 15, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits, generous vacation and sick time, good retirement benefits. During an economic recession, an educational institution is a good place to be as layoffs are kept to a minimum.

Cons

Management is completely incompetent. I have never seen so many do so little yet position themselves to look so well in the eyes of their superiors. Oh, and if you work here, sharpen your butt-kissing skills, because the only way to get advancement is to make very nice with the people on top. If you do advance, prepare to spend the remainder of your professional life in debilitating anxiety over whether your dean approves of the job you're doing.

Explore other reviews about Northwestern University

5.0
Jul 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Good opportunities - Campus accommodations are nice

Cons

- Underpay - $4000 for eight week full time research (40 hrs/week)

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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