High volume, fast paced, messy history, kind colleagues
Pros
-Most staff are well-intentioned. -Compensation and benefits are decent. -Jobs are secure due to high turnover. -Flexible work-from-home policy. -Positive change could be coming with recent efforts across the research institute and new hires.
Cons
-IT infrastructure for data reporting and storage can seem unsophisticated. -Reliable information on policies and processes can be difficult to find. -High turnover has led to a drain of institutional knowledge. That, coupled with undocumented processes, can make it feel like few people have a grasp on what is happening and what anyone should be doing. -High stress across departments can create a culture of self-preservation rather than genuine cooperation. -Most time is spent cleaning up errors from months/years past, leaving little capacity to proactively manage current projects, which further extends an unfortunate cycle. -Questionable recruitment tactics concealed a long history of poor leadership, unmanageable workloads and high turnover, so the actual job scope and load was nothing near the original description and discussions. Candidates should ask many specific and direct questions; candidates should ask different people those same questions to try to gain an honest idea of what they might be signing up for.
