University of British Columbia Reviews in Canada

Current Employee – been working at University of British Columbia full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Beautiful location, strong leadership, great amenities (recreational, cultural, pro-D), benefits, vacation, range of career options available, option to live on campus = no commute.

Cons – An inherently innovative organization struggling to get past the bureacracy, hierarchical structure and crippling long and overly consultative decision making processes. Unfortunately the workplace satisfaction is dependent on the individual unit and supervisor (not unlike large organizations).

Advice to Senior Management – Continue to bring in strong hires, but give them the freedom to try new things and support their decision making. Ensure your mid-level management understand the need to build capacity in the workforce, crediting good work and building a team - it varies so widely by department. Every manager should be required to go through management training.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at University of British Columbia part-time for more than 3 years

Pros – My supervisor cultivated a positive work environment that was very student-oriented. I worked at the same place for 3 years and I feel like I learned more than I did in my 4 years of undergrad. I did a range of tasks from data entry and recruiting participants to writing reports and presenting powerpoints.

Cons – There is little support outside of your supervisor and immediate work area. I have heard some awful things about supervisors abusing their position as a superior, getting students to work more hours than they are paid and never even getting a chance to communicate with their supervisor.

Advice to Senior Management – NEED MORE REGULATION/COMMUNICATION with faculty members. Students should be able to submit evaluations of their supervisors to administrators who have the authority to evaluate and discipline abusive supervisors.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at University of British Columbia full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The students are fantastic, eager and motivated to help themselves (for the most part). Makes work satisfying knowing you are making a positive influence on tomorrow's future leaders.

Cons – Very slow to move strategically, as a staff member you feel second class to faculty.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at University of British Columbia full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – There are educational tuition benefits. Friendly co-workers. Natural settings.

Cons – Salaries much lower than private sector, except for senior management. Probably biggest con. Salaries may not increase year-to-year as much as private industry. Layoffs in last few years seem like a cost-cutting measure to replace long-term employees with lower-paid employees.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay people what they are worth, and treat long term employees with more respect.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at University of British Columbia full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – UBC has historically provided good benefits, including tuition waivers, a stable pension plan, and generous vacation days. UBC Vancouver Point Grey is beautiful campus. There are many excellent co-workers, and opportunities to participate in some of the events and activities happening in and around the university.

Cons – What was previously a collaborative and cooperative work environment has become much more tense and adversarial as more and more managers come in from corporate backgrounds rather than from academic IT positions. Recent frequent layoffs without cause are very demoralizing to the remaining staff. Managers are willing to sacrifice their employees to appeal to upper management.

Advice to Senior Management – Repeatedly cutting benefits and laying off long time employees is destroying workplace morale among those who remain, and driving the best employees to other opportunities.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at University of British Columbia full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Average benefits, maternity top-up, welcome-back barbeque for staff, tuition waiver, professional development opportunities, some departments have flex schedules

Cons – Constant re-organizing of departments means little job stability, weak union, long commute if you don't live in the Metro Vancouver area

Advice to Senior Management – Quit piecing together little jobs to make up 100%. It doesn't work, and no one likes it. Also, think it through before hiring someone to do an "experimental position" as we don't want to find out in a few months that there's not really much of a job there for us, and we're getting laid off.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at University of British Columbia full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Some of the people that work there are the some of the best people I have ever met. I never felt like UBC deserved such hard workers with so much heart and integrity. UBC doesn't recognize and reward individuality. UBC rewards people for doing what they expect you to do and furthering their goals.
Some people think the benefits are great at UBC but they are over-rated. They just make you so comfortable that you never want to leave. Also some benefits seem better than they are- like the free tuition. It is never really free and no one has time or energy to take class or can fit the classes they actually need or want to study into their schedule. Also you have to jump through the same hoops as regular applicants and that is a real deterent. In the end, very few employees take advantage of the free tuition credits.

Cons – I had the misfortune of going through a reorganization and was laid off. My department was replaced and expanded and many of my colleagues who had been with the department the longest and were the most knowledgeable were not offered new roles. Instead these roles were handed to the least experienced staff who had been there the least amount of time. This was really hard for me to experience because I value loyalty and hard work together very highly. I also saw how tremendous these overlooked colleagues were in helping students and couldn't fathom why this wasn't more valuable to management. I didn't fit in here because I am someone who is constantly pushing the envelope and thinking creatively which scares institutions like UBC that prefer the status quo and blind acceptance. I was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. I don't regret working there I just regret staying for so long. I felt creatively empty and demoralized at the end of it. I desperately wanted to make a contribution but was never given the opportunity. If you like predictability and want to rise the top by doing what you are told and stroking egos then this is the place for you.

Advice to Senior Management – This is how it went down as I saw it. One day you inform your subordinates that everything is going to change and it is going to change at a rapid pace. You provide very little information other than that but encourage everyone to support this change even though job security is not certain for everyone. First of all, that style of leadership is fear based and it is manipulative. I am not sure what school of leadership you are pulling your ideas from but if it is about making people respect you as little as possible then you succeeded.
In the end the changes were minimally successful at that and only managed to create more chaos. When an opportunity to jump ship came along - you took it--which only further reinforces that you never really knew what you were doing. I am not sure how all of you managed to get to where you are with such little regard for people but your success will not be long lasting. I am not saying that in spite - just in truth. I am sorry that you felt that this was the only way you felt you could achieve results.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at University of British Columbia full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good benefits and a good reputation

Cons – If working directly with UBC, there is no many problems. I was hired through a hosted industry partner, called PROOF and it was a nightmare.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at University of British Columbia

Pros – nice working environment, kind colleague, hourly payment is high and most important thing is to work with professors and accomplish them to achieve the teaching goal.

Cons – do not have desired job tasks, and should let the TA to choose their prefer courses for the teaching

Current Employee – been working at University of British Columbia full-time for more than a year

Pros – UBC is an excellent employer and offers great benefits.

Cons – Merit increases after first year are minimal, and may result in good people leaving.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company