residential advisor

safety specialist

instructor

counselor

specialist

Adams and Associates

Thought this new Job Corps would be great. Mgt came from another site with ideas driven by ego and the bottom line and lacking the compassion and understanding and even training necessary for working with the typical Job Corps student population. Students were promised counseling, medical, and dental care and have received little to none of it despite constant requests made by students and parents since they opened the site prematurely in September of 2015. There are still students who have not been able to start classes on their promised trades due to a lack of instructors. Many staff do not show respect for students yet demand it from them.  Many staff do not even respect each other. Management does not listen to what those staff actually working with the students have to say and are ridiculously suspicious of anyone who trying to help improve the program. Many of the best employees have left because of this alone. Management does not appreciate lower or mid level staff and they automatically suspect all students of being delinquents, treating them like prisoners rather than students, and children rather than young adults.  Staff tends to be petty,  complaining to one another and then reporting what was said to higher-ups who handle these situations with the same lack of maturity and professionalism. The result is that the good employees who are there for the right reasons and who actually know what is needed are bullied out while the gossipy, conniving,  unprofessional employees continue playing their childish games under the supervision of unfortunate management who run this otherwise wonderful program like an episode of "Orange is the New Black."  It's really too bad.  All it would've taken for this new center to realize its potential would be a responsible group of adults with the right motives, based on teamwork and compassion, lead by a true leader, not just one who relishes his title while driving into work in his shiny red sports car, demanding results without providing training or support.  Someone please investigate this center.  Employees will step up under a good leader, but in the meantime, it's the students who are getting screwed.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with the youth was the only enjoyable experience. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Management was incredibly difficult to work with. It is clear that leadership lacks genuine concern for both the staff and the youth they serve. If the students at the Devens Campus were asked for their honest feedback, their responses would reveal serious systemic issues that the administration would likely want kept quiet.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is extremely toxic. Staff members are afraid to speak the truth because they fear retaliation or termination. Similarly, students are afraid to speak up because they worry about being terminated from the program. The company has a strict policy regarding negative publicity, but if the truth about the internal culture were to become public, it would reflect incredibly poorly on the organization as a whole (The Adams and Associates Division, not Job Corps as a whole)

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day starts with being bombarded by issues that are entirely out of your control, largely because other departments fail to do their jobs correctly. This is the norm here, as the company does not provide sufficient on-the-job (OTJ) training. Most new hires are placed into positions and simply expected to know what to do automatically. There is no guidance on how to find paperwork, where offices are located, how to manage the youth, or which policies are actually being enforced versus which ones just exist on paper.


A typical day involves attending meetings, addressing behavioral issues, and resolving conflicts with students. The day often requires flexibility and quick thinking to handle the unpredictable challenges that arise.

What I've Learned:
One of the most significant lessons I've learned is patience. Working in this environment requires understanding, empathy, and the ability to remain calm and focused under pressure.

Management Support:
Management can be supportive at times, but due to their demanding schedules, there's often limited time available for proper training. As a result, I’ve frequently had to figure things out independently, which has built my resilience and problem solving skills.

Workplace Culture:
The workplace culture can be challenging. There is a noticeable lack of consistent work ethic among some staff, which leads to others including myself taking on additional duties outside our defined roles. This imbalance can create frustration and burnout.

The Hardest Part of the Job:
Being constantly on call is the most difficult aspect. It requires constant vigilance and availability, which can be mentally and physically exhausting.

The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:
The most rewarding part of my role is witnessing students achieve their goals especially when they earn their High School Diplomas or complete their trade programs. Seeing their growth and success makes the challenges worthwhile.



Job Corps is an extremely valuable federal training program.  The majority of Center staff are there because they truly care about people, staff colleagues and students enrollees alike, as well as the Job Corps mission of helping young adults with disadvantages complete secondary education, learn trade skills, earn professional certifications, and obtain living wage employment or advanced training in a structured and supportive environment.  

Adams corporate culture does not align with this mission and it is on clear display with the last 'Pilot Program' students finishing.  Adams' President stated publicly - in front of the student body - that the company did not anticipate *any* Pilot Program students to meet the goal of graduating with an Associates college degree.  In other words, she expected the program to fail.  Fortunately, center staff had higher expectations which numerous students met and exceeded.
Corporate focus is entirely on the financial bottom line.  Corporate counts employees as "assets" and student enrollees as "inventory".  The campus is short-staffed, in part due to the renewed contract in 2021 that cut approximately 20% of the staff positions and reallocated many of the remaining positions.  Existing staff are expected to cover multiple roles without additional compensation.  Corporate chose to withhold training in 'traditional' Job Corps procedures and expectations until the pilot program staff failed to meet those expectations and could be 'encouraged' to resign, rather than investing in the staff who were already invested in the students. 
Burnout is high.  Morale is low.

At first, this was a great job. You feel you are doing something great for the students, until you realize they are THE LAST priority. It is a numbers game firstly. Student medical/med management was BEYOND poor. With the nurse not properly dispensing mental health/all meds in a manner befitting students who NEED them. Especially as she didn't work weekends. They are uneducated on so many aspects of recovery & mental health, and as many of the "kids" they recruit in are off the street or pulled from mental institutions (for numbers) there is no help. It is a zero tolerance policy, which sets very vulnerable people up for absolute failure. Especially as some drugs take longer than 30 days to leave ones system, especially when adipose tissue is involved..add the poor med management to this and it is a cocktail for absolute failure. As residential staff, you are not given the proper training or time to care for mental instability and are fully expected to hourly monitor individual students while monitoring 50 others at the same time. "Prime shift" means you work from 3-11pm...the PRIME part of the day; and this is the "best" shift. The other shift has you working 3 various shifts in a 5-6 day period. All while traversing the protocols that make job corp feel they are a quality organization.

As a parent who loves their children...I would NEVER place my children into their hands in a million years.

While there- not even a 1/4 of the students were thriving, let alone completeing their programs. 



What is the best part of working at the company?
I don’t know anymore ,place is a mess 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
working at the company in general 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
So many problems, so little space! It's cliquey. It's dysfunctional. If you do your job but you're not chummy with management, don't expect to be recognized for a job well done. There's a serious dearth of professionalism and heart in the management team. The work in itself is stressful at times yet it can be rewarding when students become skilled and educated to competitive levels. Sadly, you can't expect the pay to ever be commensurate with your education, experience, or effort. You'll be asked to do more and more work with no added compensation or might even be "voluntold"! Management feels it's okay to yell and curse at staff and threaten them with losing their jobs. Adams & Associates talks about caring for the students but the reality is that it's all about the company's bottom line (maintaining those government contracts to keep the money coming). Students that should not be or don't want to be in the program are coerced (staff are obligated to pressure them) into staying because if they leave, the company will have to pay the federal government back for the money that was allotted for that student. Expect to be disciplined up to terminated for not participating in their campaign to retain the student at all costs! Its just not worth it--look elsewhere if you have that luxury.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful and frustrating no help from day staff thrown to the fire type

I was very excited to start this position - it gave me the opportunity to work with young people that I didn't think I could work with and never pictured myself working with. I was able to connect with trouble youth on the verge of adulthood that were at the stage in their lives where they needed structure and someone they could latch onto and trust, and I feel that I was able to provide that.

Thats where the good stops though...The job was stressful from the onset, requiring me to do more in an 8 hour timeframe than one human being it capable of achieving, leaving me feeling that I didn't accomplish much by the end of the day besides not seeing the place burn down. Management never provided the support system necessary for employees to do their jobs effectively, and chastised you for not being able to do 5 or more things simultaneously throughout the course of your shift. Anything you did accomplish was not appreciated or recognized. Employees and coworkers never had each others backs, and were often times out to get one another, prone to getting roped into the high school gossiping type of culture that was already abounding on center grounds.

While I hoped to make an impact for the kids at the job corp center, the center requires a LOT of resources to be put into it to make it a good work environment and a secure, nurturing environment for the students going into adulthood.

So many problems, so little space! It's cliquey. It's dysfunctional. If you do your job but you're not chummy with management, don't expect to be recognized for a job well done. There's a serious dearth of professionalism and heart in the management team. The work in itself is stressful at times yet it can be rewarding when students become skilled and educated to competitive levels. Sadly, you can't expect the pay to ever be commensurate with your education, experience, or effort. You'll be asked to do more and more work with no added compensation or might even be "voluntold"! Management feels it's okay to yell and curse at staff and threaten them with losing their jobs. Adams & Associates talks about caring for the students but the reality is that it's all about the company's bottom line (maintaining those government contracts to keep the money coming). Students that should not be or don't want to be in the program are coerced (staff are obligated to pressure them) into staying because if they leave, the company will have to pay the federal government back for the money that was allotted for that student. Expect to be disciplined up to terminated for not participating in their campaign to retain the student at all costs! Its just not worth it--look elsewhere if you have that luxury.

If you’re applying to work at Job Corps because you want to help young people, I understand the motivation; that’s why I applied. Unfortunately, my experience working for Adams and Associates, the contractor managing the center, was deeply disappointing.

The company is compensated based on the number of students and staff on center, as well as student performance metrics. While corporate representatives visit in professional attire, driving nice vehicles and staying in comfortable accommodations, frontline staff are often underpaid, overworked, and given little support.

The working environment can be highly stressful, with unrealistic expectations, inadequate resources, and workplace tensions between colleagues. Meetings are frequent and often feel disconnected from the day-to-day realities staff face. Pay increases are uncommon, and advancement opportunities appear limited.

Regarding the students: despite their potential, the primary focus often seemed to be on meeting numerical targets rather than providing long-term support.

If you value your mental health, financial stability, and a truly student-centered environment, I would advise you to research carefully before accepting a position here.

I strongly advise against accepting this job. From the very first day, you will encounter dishonesty from management. The role requires you to simultaneously serve as both the safety and security manager and the safety officer, which is an overwhelming demand for one person and essentially two full-time jobs rolled into one.

During my brief tenure of just three weeks, I quickly realized the extent of the challenges I would face. In my first week, I was tasked with cleaning out my office, which hadn't been attended to in years. The mess was not only physically daunting but also indicative of the overall disorganization within the company. To add to the frustration, I received no substantial training or guidance on how to perform the various responsibilities required of me. 

Moreover, the expectations from upper management were unrealistic. They insisted that I should completely overhaul the security department, yet they only allocated time for this task in vague increments, such as during meetings that always seemed to follow more meetings. This lack of support and clarity made it impossible to effect any meaningful change or establish a proper workflow.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Residential advisor 93 salaries reported	$20.16 per hour
Safety specialist 95 salaries reported	$18.92 per hour
Instructor 76 salaries reported	$51,728 per year
Counselor 45 salaries reported	$51,825 per year
Specialist 28 salaries reported	$22.39 per hour

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