University of Cambridge Employee Reviews about "career progression"

Pros

Very interesting environment Lovely colleagues Good annual leave entitlement Good pension Flexibility

Cons

Salaries not very high Career progression is not very easy

Pros

Lots of opportunities for personal and professional development, free courses, support, events to enhance networking. A vibrant uni and city.

Cons

Career progression might be a big challenge. Many postdocs in my lab are true veterans, it is not uncommon to be stuck for a decade in that position.

Advice to Management

Recognise the need for professional growth of the postdocs. Line managers should have an annual discussion with postdocs about their prospects of professional development.

Pros

Advantages: Flexible working hours; Develop state of art research; Prestigious Institution; Offers a wide variety of training programs;

Cons

Disadvantages: Precarious contracts; Limited career progression; Lack of informal spaces;

Pros

Part of a word-renowned institution Groundbreaking research

Cons

High staff turnover Lack of forward thinking Poor management - staff communication Distrust between staff and management Extreme pay gaps between workers and senior management (who earn 70K+) No opportunity for development, career progression / promotion, training etc Abhorrently rude staff in facilities and research teams Disorganised chaos, I've never seen anything this bad

Pros

Great work-life balance and benefits (including pension); Contributing to a world-leading University.

Cons

Tiny cog in a huge machine; Lack of career progression, 'job-hop' around Departments to get anywhere; Archaic processes and technology, change is slow and tedious.

Pros

Good work-life balance. Flexible working hours. Generous holidays.

Cons

Limited career progression opportunities. Absent bosses. Leadership responsibilities dumped on younger staff without recognition

Pros

Great pension scheme (USS, as per other UK universities), lots of family friendly perks (eg 'emergency childcare' options), work with literally the smartest people on the planet, most of whom are surprisingly down to earth and genuinely lovely people

Cons

800 years worth of structure, governance and bureaucracy. Ridiculously competitive for anything above post doc level/grade. 'Bottom up' culture means academics can do whatever they want - great if you're one of them, less good if you're not! Very poor career progression opportunities unless you are one of the lucky few academics Salary is more or less competitive with other UK universities, but the cost of... living in Cambridge is prohibitive (average house price something like 16 times the average salary - highest in the country at time of writing). The medieval city is lovely, but not car friendly and is difficult to commute in to

Advice to Management

Take a more proactive interest in staff career progression, providing alternative career paths to lecturing (also for support/research administration staff)

Pros

very efficient admin inspiring environment world class resources intellectually gratifying

Cons

career progression is slow. not many opportunities

Advice to Management

to preserve the reputation of the university put a system in place to prevent and report scientific fraud (publications)