Pros
Great Benefits. Decent pay for the area. Some really excellent co-workers.
Cons
SEL is Soul-Killing Cult. Period. STAY AWAY! Very poor management from the middle on up. HR Department? Forget about it. I made the mistake of "anonymously" reporting to "HR" regarding the total ineptness of my "Supervisor" and was punished for it. It's definitely all about WHO you know and not what you know or can do. I worked in a department that had a reputation for being a fun place to work and be creative. This "off the floor" position was coveted and sought after by many an SEL floor worker. My first supervisor in this department was absolutely GREAT. We combined a lot of work with plenty of fun and camaraderie. Then he became a manager but stayed with the department and his right hand man was made supervisor which was also great. Both of these people had been with the department for years and years and had done the work that those of us in the department were still doing. I loved it during that time. We were creative and allowed to think, customize, design and explore. New ideas were always wanted and encouraged. But then BAM: The manager was promoted and took a position in another department. The really cool supervisor retired and everything changed. An "acting" supervisor was put in place and she was a total disaster. We referred to her as a 5-Alarm Dumpster Fire. Eventually her total ineptness, fits of anger and non-existent people skills were found out and she was not allowed to become the permanent supervisor. This angered her so much that she left the department. PERFECT! This was great! Then a new supervisor was appointed. Rather than having to go through the normal interview process, he was put in place. The position was not offered internally or externally...the man was INSTALLED. This guy had been working within this department for many years and it was believed he would be a good fit because he was well liked by everyone and had similar working experiences over a lot of years. WRONG! It was like the switch had been flipped or the worm had turned for this guy. Turned out that while he was a great worker and competent with the actual work? He didn't know the first thing about supervising people, managing the work of those people or dealing with conflict of any kind. He became and overbearing micro-manager with and intimidating nature real quick. A DICTATOR. Of course this killed the department as far as moral, enthusiasm, quality and dignity of work. 3 words: TOTAL Train Wreck. I watched this DEVOLUTION for a long time until I couldn't take it anymore and I reported him to HR. 1 week later I was fired for a very trivial reason. I was not given a warning or offered a PIP (Professional Improvement Plan) but was summarily terminated. I really loved my job for a long LONG time but these (what should have been) little changes in leadership over a year period totally destroyed any joy I previously had for the work and working environment. Devastating to say the least. I've been gone from the company for a couple years now and I sure am glad I'm not working there now. I have many friends there and I have been informed that this "supervisor" who had me terminated for a self-serving reason is now the supervisor of THREE departments that are closely dependent on each other. WOW. Absolutely Mind-Boggling. The stupidity of the "management" culture within SEL knows no bounds. Again: SEL is Soul-Killing Cult. Period. STAY AWAY!
