Pros
They will help sort of pay for your grad school.
Cons
Pretty much everything. I really don't even know where to start to explain how terrible this place was to work for, but let me try. First, you will be underpaid, by a lot, in a field that isn't known for paying it's employees well. Even with a college degree and experience in the field, you'll make between 11 and 13 dollars an hour. I can make more at home depot. Second, you are overworked. Shifts are long and hard. Staff are MANDATED to pick up overtime shifts, so they are tired, sore, and angry on shift. While I was taking grad school classes at night, I was mandated to take overtime shifts. They knew I had night classes (in the field, mind you, so I could be a more educated therapist), and I told them I couldn't do the mandated OT because of this, and got ridiculed for it. Third, you aren't respected or listened to. the supervisors who I never once saw on the floor with the kids make up behavior plans and guidelines based on who knows what. When people like me who are on the floor and spend all day and night with the kids tell them it's a bad idea, we aren't listened to. Usually this leads to more angry staff, and sometimes, hurt staff since the supervisors don't know what the heck they are doing. Oh, and while you are overworked, underpaid, disrespected and not listened to, be sure not to make a single mistake, because you will never hear the end of it. Also, don't be sick -- since they are so short staffed due to ridiculous turnover and a terrible work environment, you can't be sick. Oh, and if you get hurt, they try to see how it was your fault. I got hurt, badly, while on shift, doing something I told my supervisor was a bad idea, and he told me to do anyways. I couldn't return to work without restrictions due to my injury, and even though they are supposed to (i think this is a law even), find work for you to do with restrictions if you were hurt on the job, they didn't, and I was left to waste away at home feeling useless. That's just a smattering of the terrible stuff that goes on here.
