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      Harvard University

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      Harvard University reviews

      4.3

      86% would recommend to a friend

      (4,060 total reviews)

      Alan Garber

      82% approve of CEO

      71% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.2

      Diversity & inclusion

      4.1

      Work/Life balance

      4.0

      Culture & values

      4.0

      Career opportunities

      3.9

      Compensation and benefits

      3.7

      Senior management

      Harvard University has an employee rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars, based on 4,060 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Harvard University employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      4K reviews
      2.0
      May 4, 2018

      Impossible to get hired

      Staff assistant
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Lots of PTO, good benefits, good work/life balance

      Cons

      I’ve been trying to get a job at Harvard for almost three years and every time I think it’s finally going to happen they end up going with someone else. Last year I figured I’d try to get my foot in the door by temping, so I accepted a three month long assignment that paid $14/hr, hoping it would be an investment... After three months, the person I was covering for came back. But I was thrilled when the department called me back a month later, asking me to fill in again. It turned out the original person left for good, so there was now an open position available! I truly thought this was my lucky break, since they requested me back for the same role that was now open. But whenever I asked about the timeframe to actually be hired, they would just say they’re not sure what the new role will look like and that I should basically treat every day like an audition for the job. This went on for three months (so by now I was there for a total of six months and getting more and more stressed). After they maxed out the time they could keep me as a temp, they decided to make me a Term employee for three months, hyping it up to seem like a huge success. But whenever I asked my supervisor for projects that would allow me to leave a foot print and prove myself, she would just tell me she appreciates my proactiveness, but unfortunately “it’s not appropriate because you’re a Term employee”. So, I made sure to keep a spreadsheet of everything I did, and tried to build solid relationships with my co-workers. My supervisor and the Director even told me on numerous occasions that all of the reviews they’d gotten about me were been very positive. However, towards the end of my term end date, one of the managers gave me a very generic interview and barely glanced at the spreadsheet. And when I asked the department director a few days later if there are any updates, he told me I wasn’t even chosen as a finalist for the position. I wish I knew what was going through their minds as they put me through this experience, and why they wanted to keep me around as long as they did if they weren’t intending to hire me permanently.

      3.0
      Feb 4, 2016

      Interesting Work, Poor Pay

      Research assistant
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Interesting research and bright people.

      Cons

      While the people at Harvard are very bright and the work is interesting, the institution is not ideal. Harvard attracts people who are looking for cutting edge research experience and who need the Harvard brand name to continue on in their own pursuits. Therefore, Harvard knows that it can pay entry level researchers badly and still retain top talent. For instance, my research team has structured my pay so that they can avoid paying me benefits. This means that I cycle between two pay periods--90 days in which I work for 35 hours a week and then 60 days in which I work 17 hours a week. This allows them to classify me as "less than part time" in order to pay me less and avoid providing me benefits. The result is that I make less on an annualized basis than I would make flipping burgers at McDonalds for 40 hours a week, especially when the health insurance benefits from McDonalds are factored in. This creates a situation in which young people of means can afford to be research assistants while young people who do not have family backing must find other work. Harvard's union is supposed to be fixing this problem, but they are worthless and do not have the employee's interests at heart. I cannot wait until I find a position elsewhere where I am paid better and can live a more normal life financially.

      2.0
      Aug 4, 2008

      It seems like it will be great to work at Harvard University until you actually work here.

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      The best reason to work for Harvard University is the TAP education benefit which allows employees to take courses at Harvard Extension School for $40 each plus the cost of books. Courses do not have to be job related, and can be taken for no credit, undergraduate credit, or graduate credit. You can get a degree in "Liberal Arts" at Harvard Extension School, which is not the same thing as getting a real degree at Harvard College. Harvard Extension School is the open enrollment evening division of Harvard. The one exception to this is the School of Education. You can get a Masters degree in Education using TAP through Harvard's School of Education that is the same degree that full-time "regular" students get. Working at Harvard can be used as a stepping stone to finishing a degree, getting an advanced degree, or simply as a means to enriching one's personal life.

      Cons

      There is very little opportunity for advancement at Harvard. The faculty and the students are carefully selected from amongst the best and brightest, senior management is not. There are many managers here who are jaded and bitter and who will never voluntarily leave, and they make life miserable for the people who work for them. This fact is widely acknowledged by senior management, which has run several employee surveys over the past 5 years trying to figure out how to improve Harvard employees work experience. Unfortunately, they did not follow through and insist on change or documentation of change, and so there has been little improvement.

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      ReviewsHarvard University reviews

      Glassdoor has 4,606 Harvard University reviews submitted anonymously by Harvard University employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Harvard University is right for you.