University of Birmingham Reviews

Cons

Maximum of 15 hours allowed to work.

Cons

Told what to do so little flexibility.

Cons

Wi-Fi system is not working properly for work

Cons

0-hour contracts, unstable work schedule

Cons

Lots of extra academic requirements

Cons

Extremely bureaucratic and hierarchical. Low morale in many areas that are over worked and under resourced. Poor internal communication. Constant review and change. Frequent movement at Director level, leading to inconsistency, and feeling that people come in to bolster their CV with a project and move on without getting the the root of issues.

Cons

Where to begin, the interview seems technical, the job role was pathetic for your career at best. Doing the cleanup work for most of the building, which seems fine until you realise it's mainly waste from Biological experiments, e.g. TB, HIV etc, sterilised in 95% of the time an overpacked autoclave (so not sure how it can be 100% sterilised if there is no airflow). Most of us were elderly, carrying heavy loads around the building, working in hot temps - autoclaves were at 121c, Carry and sort clean out heavy hot metal cans full of waste, where we had to stand over them and breath in the "sterilised fumes" - Disgusting and so dangerous. Constant standing on some activities for long periods, repetitive tasks to the point where you would feel sore - no one from management really cared when anyone brought up the concerning work, workload or demeaning behaviour of a manager who made it feel like you weren't doing enough. After a full day of grafting, the last 30 mins is when the manager would come and "help you out" so you do more, most days I went home and felt like not going back and went straight to bed due to back pain. Supervisor - wow, what a joke, left you to it, never around, was meant to be working with you but always on jollies, always pretending to be somewhere, doing something, could never be found and never gets caught - no one from management believes you when you express this. Colleagues are friendly and even great! Accept one, who doesn't look like she'll leave any time soon, bossy and takes all the credit for everything - very political and confrontational, made work a nightmare for some of the other colleagues. Overall - I would never recommend working as a Central Services technician in the Bioscience building for Birmingham University.

Cons

Biosciences building a bit dated but situated in the centre of campus. Because the university is located close to hospital the traffic is awful getting to and from work. Also parking is a major issue however the train station is very close and convenient.

Cons

Nothing I can think of

Cons

Not guarantee of regular shifts.