Stanford University Employee Reviews for Program Manager

"Very good experience and training"

What do you like about working at Stanford University?

"I liked the research that I was suppose to be doing (although they had me working on other things I was not hired to do such as event planning and without the support I was promised) and the consulting for department heads as well as correspondence and committee contributions."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Be careful about the interviewing process . . . they generally use it to pick people's brain about how to do their programs better, especially in the Medical arena, and then do not hire anyone. This has been going on for a loooooonng time. Find out about the program and why people left there first and feel free to bring up the question about what they would like to see changed in their staff culture while interviewing. Ask them if they are satisfied with their staff and why or why not."

What don't you like about working at Stanford University?

"The prior comments describe working are mostly negative. One would think that it would be wonderful to work at SU for a person like me who is driven, creative, loves to really work and collaborate with others. But that perception holds true in only a few departments there. For the most part I discovered that they do not honor your skill sets and many mid managers and support staff are out to undermine you and take your kudos if you do something well."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"First honor the job description laid out in the letter of hire for employees. Stop the double supervisors oversight of one's work - they both expected all the work to be done solely for them. Have the diversity supervisor take a course in how to stop her micromanaging and engage in delegating with authority. The diversity supervisor alienated anyone that did not look like her. Also, stop the exempt system - it causes burn out. Stop treating researchers as technicians. The other supervisor did not have the kind of management or leadership skills needed to perform their role. That is why in the course of 1 year 4 people left this department. 2 just never showed up again."