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    Oxford University Reviews

    Updated 23 September 2018
    473 reviews

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    4.2
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    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    Oxford University Chancellor Christopher Francis Patten
    Christopher Francis Patten
    75 Ratings

    473 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
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    1. "Amazing"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Oxford University full-time

      Pros

      Great support, intellectual atmosphere and talented colleagues

      Cons

      Work life balance sometimes tough

    2. "Research Associate"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Oxford University full-time

      Pros

      Good working environment for anyone

      Cons

      Sometimes long working hours. Boring

      3. Join the Oxford University team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "Fantastic place to study"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      Pros

      Excellent access to people and research facilities

      Cons

      Can't think of any cons

    4. "fine"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      Pros

      interesting people to work with

      Cons

      senior staff are incredibly overstretched

    5. "Excellent Place to Work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Technician in Oxford, England
      Former Employee - Technician in Oxford, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Oxford University full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Excellent working environment. Equipment not far away from the latest technology. Colleagues were all friendly and never had any conflict between us. Work and results produced were excellent.

      Cons

      nothing found. everything run smoothy

      Advice to Management

      Nothing. They are doing excellent job

    6. "UNIQ Summer School Ambassador"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      Pros

      - Great pay for what you do
      - Amazing opportunity for access work that actually has an impact
      - Interesting and friendly colleagues

      Cons

      - Not an easy way to remain in contact and help students post-summer school
      - No work/life balance but that was expected

    7. "Not so many opportunities for career progression"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Oxford, England
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Oxford, England
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Oxford University full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      The job can be relatively stable but it depends very much on the line manager and their funding. The department has the right to employ people from outside the EU, and are usually quite helpful when it comes to relocation and covering visa costs (super expensive in the UK and getting worse every year). Standard amount of paid annual leave plus bank holidays. Some get-together events are organised. Generally other researchers can be helpful and it is possible to acquire new skills. Lots of talks and seminars to choose from.

      Cons

      Too much bureaucracy, some types of experiments are essentially undoable because of that. Very slow processing of paperwork, poor contacts with other departments. Too inefficient even for such a big organisation... Very complex purchasing system, also as a professional scientist you should not be expected to deal with it but at Oxford you do - I had to become proficient in EU and UK taxation codes because I needed to buy lab consumables. Brexit is already affecting funding opportunities as EU grants are becoming less available (now it is about 50% of total funding) and regulatory bodies (essential for clinical research) are leaving the UK. Almost no career progression, or pay rise, except for shuffling between different departments until you are too old and/or expensive to go anywhere else. If you are happy with this and don't have issues at work, they will give you preferential treatment if you apply for other similar positions at Oxford. Working culture can be too relaxed in appearance, like one hour long coffee breaks, but you are "naturally" expected to do late hours and weekends instead, to show your dedication. Bullying is common but not much is done about it, despite campaigns against it. Money is OK but Oxford is virtually the most expensive city in the UK, maybe after London, and postdoc salary is pretty much the same throughout the country, so you are worse off in Oxford than elsewhere. For example, you basically have to live with flatmates (alone is too expensive), which for a 30 yo with a supposedly prestigious social status and a PhD and all is a bit tough I think.

    8. "Difficult to progress"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Oxford, England
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Oxford, England

      I have been working at Oxford University full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Opportunity to work with inspiring researchers, students, professors

      Cons

      Hard to progress to next level, virtually no career prospects
      A huge organisation that is complex and in some ways a bit dysfunctional!

    9. "titles kept changing"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Oxford, England
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Oxford, England
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Oxford University full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      free food, working ethics, organised environment, work/social life balance

      Cons

      career progression very hard to achieve

    10. "Very happy"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Oxford, England
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Oxford, England

      I have been working at Oxford University full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Unlocking great career opportunities. Stimulating working environment, with lots of top-notch researchers visiting and lecturing on significant scientific topics.

      Cons

      Commuting to London airports is the only down-side probably. Other than that I can't think of any serious cons.

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