director of parks and recreation

engineer

human resources advisor

administrative specialist

customer service representative

City of Austin

There are several systems used by each department.  Most of the systems used are not integrated; therefore, multiplicative work is required.  Many of the processes are manual.  The work itself is not hard.  There is a lot to learn and many opportunities for innovation.  The organization needs individuals who can think outside the box and aren't afraid to speak up.  The management team has a closed door policy.  The Directors speak highly of collaboration, communication, and innovation; however, there is inconsistency with the  Department Managers.  They don't appear to be very organized and they have a hard time getting on the same page.  Individuals are not held accountable for their work or attitude.  

I came from the private sector and it has been a hard transition.  As I noted earlier, the work itself is not hard.  I enjoy learning and I look for ways to work more efficiently.  The City of Austin offers a variety of classes at a high level that each employee must take.  These classes include safety, work ethics, basic system training, and etc.  However, I quickly found that the specific division did not have a formal training program nor procedures.  I was expected to learn as I go with less than minimal direction.  I quickly found that the employees are not held accountable for their work or attitude, mainly because management does not really know what is going on, what objectives should be in place let alone if they are being met.

In my opinion, there is a great deal of opportunity for improvement and with the right direction from the top this organization could run much more efficiently and could offer a challenging and rewarding career; however, they are not there yet.

I formerly worked in the Instrumentation and Controls group at the Water Utility. I will say that the job has good points. As long as you don't blow anything up, you won't get laid off or fired. The insurance benefits and retirement are also very good.
Now for the not so good. You'll arrive to the shop first thing and enter a room of silence. There is no communication at all between the techs and the supervisors. After hanging around in the shop for a bit, you then get in your truck and head to either a plant or into the field. It is up to you to plan your day, and make sure that you have everything that you need. Don't look to the supervisors to help you. They are busy smoking outside, and the Superintendent is hiding somewhere deep in his office.
Then there's on-call. You are totally on your own with this!! Anytime that anything goes wrong, Instrumentation is the first group that is called. It is up to you to go look at the problem, which most of the time could have waited till the next day; or it's a SCADA or an Electrical issue. Nonetheless, the calls don't go thru a supervisor first. They are too busy enjoying their weekend.
This is my opinion of this group only. I've talked to other folks within other departments and their experiences seem very positive. I've obtained a new job that I'm very satisfied with that includes a positive culture. This can be a good job; just be aware of what you are getting into.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The diversification ... the varied systems and environments that you get to work in, and work with.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Politics.  You're constantly walking on eggshells, trying to please someone's peculiar limitations.  I was only temporary, and I was dismissed for complimenting people in the morning.  "Hey, those shoes look great."  "Nice outfit."  "Dude, you're looking sharp."  "Girl, I love your hair."

We're dealing with "people", not machines.  
But the HR rep I worked with on this issue was every bit a machine!  No feeling, no empathy, she was a "head hunter" and she wanted my head, whatever she had to do to get it.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Too political.  Everyone is constantly working to "cover their career".  Nobody shares information, or works together as a team.  It's a typical political employment environment.  They could do so much more if you could get all of that political attitude out of the work environment.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Review the tickets, triage the jobs and priorities, and communicate with the customers to get as much done during the day as possible.  In the midst of all of that, you are also trying to balance your regular work, in managing systems, their status, documentation and usage, and preparing reports.

The day is fast paced and provides a solid balance of "customer (internal or actual external members of the public)" engagement while also allowing for dedicated heads down work to achieve key tasks, projects and work orders.  

There is solid opportunity for training and skills growth.  There is no always a lot of opportunity to move into other roles, but this requires explanation.  Incumbents in roles often stay in roles for years; therefore, there is not always a huge amount of openings and there is often heavy competition when key roles are available.  

The hardest part of the job is not actually related to the job, but is more related to a growing greater Austin community.  Austin traffic is horrible  and very long commutes can be draining.  However the city does offer telework options in some departments or for some roles which does help.  

In response to question about vacation/sick/personal days the answer varies. All staff gets two personal days per year.  All staff gets a fixed amount of sick hours per pay period.  "Vacation" days are allotted X hours per pay period based on tenure at 5 year intervals.

COA Departments are different from each other, I may only speak of the Aviation Department as i have only worked there and not other departments. A typical day is very different (depending on the division within the department as there are also cubicle positions within) as far as the hands-on operations of the airport, something different every day. Management has no idea what their front-line employees do or deal with and only act as bosses and not leaders, they love to micromanage. Workplace culture is respectful and professional, can be fun at times depending on coworkers. Hardest part of the job is the breathing-down-our-necks attitude by management and only when they are gone can we actually perform our jobs right. I've learned to be complacent at this government job and that unless someone up top finds out about an issue only then do the gears actually move to make things better for employees and customers. The Aviation Department is reactive, not proactive. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Family-friendly environment, you can flex your time and work a hybrid schedule. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Many great temps leave because the City utilizes their versatile skills, but the Title needs to match the work or pay. If you are a temp, the Title does not match the pay.  So the best way to address this is instead of hiring someone as an Admin Senior and then giving them work outside of the job description that falls more into a Program Specialist type of category, post a Program Specialist, Administrative Specialist, or Accounting Associate III position, etc.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It can be great when you have the right leader or a nightmare if you don't.  I have worked for both types while temping with the City.  I stick to temping with those that have great leadership qualities and don't stay too long in departments that have horrible people in management positions who should not be leading the team but should be led to the doorway.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It busy, hectic but goes by quickly. Being surrounded in a great environment and team is always great for morale!

Most officers you work with have 0 military experience so if you have been in combat zones in Iraq or Afghanistan the other officers tend to be resentful of you. 95% of the officers are scared to death essentially they are office workers wearing a badge and gun. Officers have been taught to tell on each other for the most simple issues like, did they re-fill the fuel tank ? The city is very liberal they work against the officers. The police association had an attorney working to protect officers. Officers noticed the attorney was telling them to "through themselves on their sword" each time internal affairs filed some ridiculous administrative violation on them. Come to find out the attorney was actually working for the city drawing a pay check. CLEAT was had an attorney working against the officers secretly. So you had criminals attacking you and the city. The management works against officers there. It was so bad officers involved in a critical incident would refuse to speak to IA detectives so the chief made it a policy violation and automatic firing offense. The department accuses officers of lying all the time and fires guys over nothing. Everyone walks on egg shells all the time an environment of fear. 

Typical work day is pretty laid back, depending on your position within the city. I just answer phones. They make it seem like you Temp position can become perm but it is rare. There are people who have been here for 2+ years and are still temp. Mostly because it isn't really up to your supervisor if you become permanent. It has everything to do with the allowed budget within the city and how many perm positions City Council allows the City to have every year. Temp positions don't really come with any benefits, they don't offer you insurance until a year. You don't get any paid sick or vacation time. You do, however, accumulate paid time off as temp for when you become perm and then when you are perm, then you can use it. So for the people who stay temp for several year, when they become perm, they get like a ridiculous amount of paid time off that they accumulated over their temp time. The people here can be pretty great, it is an easy place to make friends. The City often does some pretty cool inside and outside of work functions.

As a Administrator for the City Of Austin there are standard activities as any admin job. In addition to greeting clients and handling phones and messages, there is typically computer data entry, hard-copy document filing, faxing and copying, and often being in charge of the copy and fax machines - making sure they are loaded with paper, calling the technicians when they need fixing, that sort of thing. Mail distribution and invoicing was apart of the position as well. Organization and efficiency was most important, since I was often the go-to person that everyone needed something from ASAP, and strong multi-tasking skills we well needed. I learned as an Admin You are always the first point of contact, To Take in the scene around you, Your tasks might be variable and also It’s all about appearances. I wouldn't say that the job is at all hard. The job is just very challenging. I enjoyed the challenge, at the end of the day it makes you that much more better t what you do,

Highly stressful job with rewarding benefits in the end. You really learn to use all of your senses on the job, from hearing and seeing to thinking outside the box. Multitasking becomes second nature easily and you get a sense of fulfillment that you did everything that you possibly could to help someone in the community each day. 

The hardest part is dealing with a call that maybe hits close to home in your heart. Even though you try to turn off your emotional side while working the various disturbances within the city there is always that one call that relates to you in some way. 

The co-workers make the job fun, we each work together to help each other out and with making certain notifications for big incidents or just to say "Hey, you did a really good job!" 

Over all the people make the company and the people made it great. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Director of parks and recreation 49 salaries reported	$24.97 per hour
Engineer 21 salaries reported	$94,520 per year
Human resources advisor 24 salaries reported	$77,038 per year
Administrative specialist 22 salaries reported	$25.42 per hour
Customer service representative 25 salaries reported	$27.23 per hour

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