housekeeper

laboratory technician

microbiologist

senior system engineer

senior pricing analyst

Cherokee Nation Businesses

I worked at this company for almost 7 years.  I will give the cons first then the pros.

The pay is lower than ALL competitors in the state.  We had a campaingn to try to raise the pay by doing interviews with other casinos comparing our salary to the competition.  Our first "negotiation" was pretty much someone sent to badmouth us and to find a reason why they shouldn't. The pay is still $5-$7 below the average in the tech department and shows no sign of changing. The upper management in my department was rather lacking and changed WAY, WAY too much.  We had a different manager every 6 months or less with a new bright idea on how to improve how our job is done.  Unfortunately the management knew almost nothing about our processes, CNGC regulations pertaining to our job or really most things about the job in general...and they all had the same ideas they wanted to try.  There is a lot of favortism and many bad attitudes, especially from the people that have made their careers on the very bottom level.  Being somewhat in middle management I dealt with a lot of the attitudes.  The written and unwritten rules change often with no heads up and you WILL get in trouble if you don't continue to read the several thousand page rule book as well as the TICS and MICS regulations you also have to follow.  Most MOD's (Manager on Duty) are decent but some treat you like trash, especially if the GM is around.  I was actually told by one of my managers that my entire department was equal to "the scum on the bottom of my shoe".  I worked there a few years at this point and I had never met that manager in my life before that day and I'm pretty sure he didn't know any of the rest.

Now the good.  There are a good number of good people there.  For the most part, aside from the attitudes and occasional backstabbing, I really did feel like I was part of a family.  Not EVERYBODY was bad, including upper level managers.  Some of us hung out and I made life-long friends from the place.  I moved up into managment pretty fast, in less than 3 years, and was quickly the senior lead tech as the other 3 quickly quit to go be vendor techs for way more money.  We were allowed to innovate although the CNGC has extremely strict limits on what you can do.  Occasionally we got "employee appreciation lunches" which was usually leftover food from a banquet help recently.  You can't argue with free though.  The benefits are the best I've ever seen and available on the day you start orientation.  Free pop, granola bars, apples, bananas, bread, coffee, juice and you have 3 different dining rooms to choose from.  There are quite a few cool perks and you can work in different departments to help out and to earn extra money.  If you get your foot in the door then you can pretty much transfer to any department that will take you.  It's a decent place to work but you have to have really thick skin.

A typical day at work with Cherokee Nation Entertainment is not typical at all. It moves at a constant pace and is continually growing. A typical day here doesn't exist. It's different every single day, especially in our Corporate Marketing Department. While everyone is enjoying the events that go on presently, we are planning for months in advance.
   The hardest part about this job is that it isn't your typical 9-5 job. Some days it may be, but there are several months where we work 10 hours or more, and weekends. The reason why this is a challenge to many is because of their families, if they have young children at home, or are just used to being home more. It was less challenging for me because I don't have any children, so the demands were less stressful, but can still get exhausting.
   The most enjoyable part of the job is, of course, the planning and meeting with the vendors. We spend much of our time doing the budgets, invoicing, insertion orders, buying and placing, with just two team members, so to just sit down and strategize a plan is a relief. Not to mention, all of our vendors are friendly and treat us to lunch.
    I've learned a lot while working here. I've gained a lot of experience. I'm also happy to have worked at both a 24 hour facility and a non 24 hour facility. The paces at both places are completely different. I've also worked very closely with my boss, Director of Media, and have learned a great deal about managing people. I also got to sit in on interviews and ask questions. I've also enjoyed working with our department. My co-workers have been great and all seem to work really well together. If one team needs help, the others will help pick up some of the slack. Lastly, I'm grateful for some of the things I've learned here that I didn't even know I was capable of doing. One of the many things I learned, for example, is a lot more about excel. I wrote my own macro to pull in data from a website by reading the html for the correct codes. 
    Overall, I've been completely satisfied with my experience working here.

Was brought aboard to develop large IDIQ relationships that Cherokee wanted to subcontract on. Once this was done they took the relationships and subcontract(s) and let me go.  Found out that bonuses are being paid in November. How convenient 3 weeks after the vetting process was done. Leadership puts their friends in positions that have critical customer facing to the govt with little to no experience based on looks. Was actually told by my manager to let "them" 2 attractive ladies do their thing, it is what it is when being the face of the State Dept relationship. Rolled up to a manger locally but had a Director from out of state telling me what to do with little understanding of what I was doing. Many times the leadership wouldn't know what was happening even when detailed notes were placed in salesforce (SF). Was told to put my activity in SF but only a couple of us were held to this rule. Again, if you are in the circle then you have your own rules. Deals were killed when partners brought them to the table and when asked if we could do the work without the partner and the answer was no the out of town Director would kill the opportunity. On more than one occasion the work was directly awarded to other tribes within the govt industry. LLC's do not communicate and often fight on opportunity ownership. Some nice people work there but have the same complaints but need the job. Run fast unless you need a job, protect your contacts and watch for the shady request when teaming on projects with your contacts!

Cherokee nation entertainment is a great place to work, it is fun, the benefits are great and there is room for advancement. The only downfall is that the floor staff, CSR's, do not get tips. It is the only casino in Oklahoma, that I am aware of, where floor staff is not allowed to take tips. Guests have an issue with this because the floor staff "makes the experience", get your drinks, do your jackpot from beginning to end (except the actual paying of the funds) and do everything they can to make your experience great. I have asked the reasoning for not being allowed to get tips and have never gotten a straight forward answer. 
Meals are priced at a discount. If you choose not to buy a meal, you won't go hungry as there is food always available such as cereal, peanut butter, bread, granola bars, etc. 
The benefits are great, 401K, health insurance, dental and vision, life insurance, they also have other programs in times of need, quarterly bonuses, incentives occasionally, uniforms provided, and shoe vouchers if needed. 
CNE is an overall great company to work for. The job is fun. Yes, you're on your feet 8 hours a day (you get great muscles in your legs) but, you get 2 breaks(15 minutes) and a lunch (30 minutes) which you're paid for. 
Management for the most part is great. Most of them are friendly, understanding and considerate. 

I was never so excited to get a job, so slapped in the face hit hard with the reality of a company being starkly in contrast to what it touted itself to be to hire me on, and have never ever been so let down, disappointed and disillusioned with any job in my life as I was working for CNE. They own you and your life, which was fine at first! I LOVED my job so much! Bu my department was so filled with preferred treatment that it was nauseating! Example: I "resigned" bcs of an incident where me and my shift's management were written up for simply doing what the previous shift had done and TOLD US TO DO TOO! Both shifts before ours had done the same thing and even instructed us to, but just we three in the whole dept received any kind of admonishment for this! Others in the dept who regularly didn't work their full 40 hour schedule were signed off and ok'ed for full time hours every pay period. What??? How fair is that? All very common within the company. It is all about who you know or are related to in the tribe. Totally is hands down the worst job experience I've ever had in my whole life! Will never work for CNE, or even visit any of their casinos, ever again. Do not think you will have a different experience unless the chief is your favorite cousin and you his! 

I'll start with money since that's what is on a table games dealers mind when it comes to switching jobs. The money was good. It was a KYO (keep your own) casino which making your own money is fantastic when it comes to the common "pool joint". When covid came around Cherokee came up with a lot of policies for the mask which I thought was a good thing for the sake of my life but it also made paying bills a little harder. Guests did not like it and went to the rival casinos in the area that didn't have mask policies.
My first few days there I felt as if I was getting picked on. I worked in table games for 6 years prior and have been to 3 other casinos but was never treated as badly as I was here by pit bosses, and other employees.
Department management was sub par. Favorites got by on certain things that other employees could not. Most people that have been there for 5 years or less would same management is not good but most people that have been there since day one love it. Could be because they haven't experienced another casino. The higher ups in the department always seemed like they were guessing and promising things to get the teams hopes up but end up not following through. There was nothing ever set in stone there. Seemed as if policies changed everyday.
Most the people there were really cool and have made a lot of good friends but it's not being ran professionally. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
I didn't have a feeling of racism hovering in the air compared to many places I have worked in kansas. Working directly with military personnel probably contributed to such a professional and fun working environment.  Regret I left.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most successful part of the position was informing a service member they are no longer fit for service and they will be referred to a medical retention board to determine if they can continue serving.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
A combination of civilians and military personnel working together.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Managing case load of service members assigned. Phone calls,  texts , emails,  faxing,  talking with Medical records personal,  making requests for medical records, studying the medical history for the cases to determine if cases are service connected.  So a typical day is lots of cases to open  and close related to time sensitive processes.

Little to no opportunities for advancement, yet management are under qualified for their positions and regardless of their performance or behavior are untouchable. Highly unprofessional leadership, managers are constantly on vacation and unavailable. They will take credit for your work and ideas, and refuse to give annual reviews. Office culture is bipolar at best, outright abusive at worst as management will encourage infighting and drama amongst employees and contractors and seem to get a kick out of mistreating employees, who walk on eggshells as a result. Work/life balance is unsustainable- the company will provide a company cell phone but you are required to be on call and work at all times, even on vacation and maternity leave. And when it comes to leave and paid time off, the company doesn’t adhere to their published policies and instead grant leave subjectively on a case by case basis. Nepotism is rampant and positions are filled by unqualified Cherokees who are family members or friends of management. Benefits are good, but compensation is under market. HR is a joke.

departments are very spread out and do not communicate well. also many higher management do not know the issues they are dealing with and instead just claim fix it. If you are not Indian then you are suspect to termination at any time without reason or warning,
The lower tier management works diligently and very hard under much scrutiny Upper management is constantly changing protocol and causes much confusion and frustration. people should just be able to work, do their job without it changing everyday. 
Upper management is mostly upset and always very hard on their management and employees. there is absolutely NO communication between floor employees and high management. 
the main issue i have is merit. If you do a good job then they don't care they just expect it without reward. but if you mess up they are there in your face penalizing you and writing you up. 
employee suggestions are hardly ever listened to, they are the ones on the floor with the guests the most. 
my department and co workers were wonderful people that were not just that, they were friends as well.

I enjoy working for the Cherokees as I am Cherokee. I normally process purchase orders as the start of the day. I place bids to a website and meet with vendors at facilities to go over scopes of work and show the work to be done. Although I work in the entertainment side of the Cherokee Nation, it still translates into work inside other businesses units with the Cherokee Nation. I also negotiate and manage contracts. 

I really enjoy the projects I work on, I have a lot of different commodities that I work through. My favorite job at this point is renovating a golf course. There is a lot that has gone into it but I really enjoy learning everything that goes into a golf course.

The hardest part of my job is that we have to comply with the gaming commission and on top that we have to also comply with Cherokee law. Cherokees have their own company that we work very close with to make sure that the Cherokees are given the chance to bid work.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Housekeeper 9 salaries reported	$37.50 per hour
Laboratory technician 4 salaries reported	$69,938 per year
Microbiologist 3 salaries reported	$77,167 per year
Senior system engineer 2 salaries reported	$117,500 per year
Senior pricing analyst 2 salaries reported	$108,000 per year

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