Pros
I learned a lot working for this company. Years ago, I started out as a behavioral health tech for the women’s halfway house in Philipsburg. I was 19 years old and learned so much about mental health and substance abuse issues and life in general. I was good at my job, came up with innovative ideas all the time, worked really hard and eventually worked my way up to a life skills specialist after 3 years at the company. I learned a lot about myself in this job. Building a rapport with the clients was another pro to this job. Still to this day, I often think of some of them. I enjoyed making an impact on their life but they also made an impact on mine as well, and helping them through a difficult transition was truly gratifying.
Cons
All that being said, this job had a lot of stress that mainly came from management itself. I worked swing shifts when the company was having a difficult time finding employees and received no raise or shift differential. The director would constantly call the techs into the office over menial, trivial issues and write us up. Since I was young at the time, I was the target for a lot of this. She would also use the counselors to tell on techs for the littlest things and reprimand us. Some people were treated better than others, depending on their title/position, it felt like high school all over again. The counselors and director would sit in the directors office with the door closed and talk about other staff members. They played favorites a lot. These instances made all the techs feel like they were walking on eggshells constantly. Years later, I became an RN and interviewed with the company, mainly to see if it has changed and if I’d enjoy it since so many years passed and management was completely different. During the interview process, the director of nursing (while very nice and friendly) asked if I would have an issue with working 16 hour shifts since I would already be at the facility, this was a huge red flag. They also called me after the interview and stated that my wage would be started at $26/hour (I’ve been an RN for 11 years). Absolutely not, that’s the lowest rate out of any nursing job in the tri-county area. I got the sense that they need nurses so badly and have a hard time keeping them due to poor work conditions and low pay. I realized not much has changed with this company and will avoid it at all costs.