maintenance person

senior maintenance person

senior customer service representative

refuse collector

customer service representative

City of Olathe

I was hired on as a Process Operator with no prior experience because of my technical abilities and aptitude to pick up quickly and contribute efficiently. Well after 6 months of employment, a partially torn knee ligament, and a car accident (none due to negligence) I only missed 1 and 1/2 days of work, so attendance was never an issue. I worked 40 hours in three days, Friday and Saturday 13.5 hrs. and Sunday 13 hrs. and did so being the only Operator most days. So this left my list of duties very long, a short list for example would be (2) plant checkouts (looking at every single gauge and instrument and documenting all the readings), washing up to (6) carbon based filters that filtered millions of gallon of h20 daily, sample collection from the source (Kansas river) and the numerous collection wells, then different water towers around the Olathe area, performing chemical analysis on all water samples (2) times per day as well, documenting all findings, plus weekly and monthly auxiliary duties and monthly and weekly computer training as well as studying information for Process Operator Certifications and this literally is just a very quick, short list and all of this was done for the hefty hourly wage of $13.67 or less than $30,000 a year. Not to mention working with this older man who was extremely lazy and very rude, never short on put downs or saying I needed to work faster. So anyways, what I'm getting to is that I was a good consistent worker and one morning as I was driving into work less than 1/4 mile from the plant I hit a deer, causing my car to veer and hit a telephone pole as well, leaving me with a fairly bad concussion and bruising. Well, I subsequently suffered a seizure about a week later and was taken to the Veterans Hospital in KCMO, since I'm a vet as well. I wasn't found to have any drugs or alcohol in my system, they simply tied the seizure to the car wreck and after that I was given restrictions for 6 months from driving, climbing ladders, working around water unsupervised, basically most things my employment consisted of. So the City of Olathe instead of bringing a second operator on my shift as they had done in the past they simply fired me. So, not only was I fired for something that was totally out of my control, I also was denied Kansas State Unemployment Insurance because my VA Doctor filled my paperwork to the Dept. of Labor wrong, saying my return to work date was "Unknown" instead of simply stating I could return to work in any other occupation that didn't include my restrictions (which are numerous jobs). So, basically, I worked hard, had a non-fault accident and because they didn't want to speed up their hiring process for another operator or rotate other ones from other shifts (which there were ALWAYS volunteers for extra shifts aka Overtime, since the pay was so low) they simply fired me and fed me to the wolves.

Parks and rec has half variety and half repetitive jobs, you move from project to project at times and you will do the same thing such as watering 3 times a week. Both together are a good combination

You learn a lot if you want to learn. Co-workers are usually obliged to answer any work related questions and help out.
 
Management is pretty relaxed as long as you do a good job and don't slack off, as it should be.

Culture is rated R but that's what makes it fun. It's a blast being around and interacting with co-workers and listening to the smack.

Hardest part is the work whether it's a physically intense project or it's over 100 degrees. Sometimes the ones in charge can become overbearing but it's temporary and any tension goes away quickly.

It's a satisfying job and the people you work for and with are great. Great benefits if you can get full time.

To sum it up, if your not a total butt kisser you won’t get far at all. Also they like to say they work with you on time off and what not but definitely do not. You build sick and personal time off that your supposed to be able to use anytime you want as long as it’s approved however they cry a storm anytime you do take off, super hypocritical. If you know your gonna have quite a few dentist or DR appointments in the same year you may look elsewhere cuz they more then likely will let you go even when it’s your built up time to use as needed. 

As far as environment goes, it can go both ways. It kinda felt like high school all over cuz there were cliques for sure and depending where you fit in is depending on how you like it. 

Benefits were really good and definitely did lot of events but again if your someone who needs time off be prepared to get hounded at

Good place to work if your SINGLE. Good pay, however with the economy there is a pay freeze with no raises for several years. Good insurance. Can be fun at times. BUT If you have a family you can expect a very high divorce rate, no family time during the holidays and weekends, several midnight shifts, a very long time before you get good days off and forced overtime. You can also count on alot of stress, constant micro managing from your supervisors, citizen complaints, politics affecting your decissions, monday quarterbacking from your co-workers and the trouble of balancing your personal life. I guess if you can handle it then go for it, but its not for everyone.

Clean the truck, get ready for the work day. never know what that day will consist of till we start. could be main breaks, replacing fire hydrants, valve boxes.
Many hands on skills, fixing leaks inside of meter pits. how to shut down a water main. tear down a fire hydrant and put back together.
Management is okay, directly work with a supervisor. supervisor will take any concerns further if need be.
Diverse work culture
Trying to get along with everybody even though they can abuse the power of the position. Working outside in all weather conditions.
talking to customers about a problem and trying to resolve the issue at hamd

What is the best part of working at the company?
It was a great place to work. Good people there fantastic benefits. Being in solid waste division, your day went quick. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Inclement weather was a little tough.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Good team setting most everybody backs you up on routes. Especially if you get covered up with heavy dumploads.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Clock in pre-trip, your truck meet with the supervisor and a team lead anything. You need get down to the shop and have it checked out and head out to your route.

It's an okay job if you're good at fixing things and problem solving under a bit of pressure. I came from a retail background and wanted to try something a lot different with my life. Thought i'd give this a shot with fixing traffic lights. Turns out it wasn't what i expected. You have to be a quick learner and problem solver. At times there could be a lot to do and other times it gets boring. I basically was a helper boy for the technicians and directed traffic in the middle of busy intersections. Eventually left after finding another job. If you have a strong back ground in utilities, electronics, construction, or military then this might be for you.

I enjoyed working with the men.  The men usually had a good handle on the culture and understanding of the job at the time.  The women - not so much.  There was too much gossip and that did not suit me.

I liked being left alone and being allowed to do my own work.  I had a good manager most of the time, although the turnover was quite fast on the managerial staff. I think I had 3 managers in 3 years.  The job I had was created for me after I came on board as a programmer.  I knew more about the database and more about programming languages. The man with more seniority messed up the database.  I was promoted.

The City of Olathe was a great place to work when I was employed there. My boss and supervisor's were easy to talk to, and they had morning meetings that involved all of us. Plenty of opportunities to get involved in extra curricular activities to make a difference too. I became involved with C.E.R.T. that focused on improving communications within the city departments.

This place used to be amazing and then as all government does they restructured and it went awful. They fired many management positions, demoted supervisors and put people in interim positions that had malicious intent to better themselves rather than the team. I went from loving my job to being miserable everyday. No way I would recommend this place anymore. Very sad indeed. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance person 68 salaries reported	$21.49 per hour
Senior maintenance person 25 salaries reported	$21.40 per hour
Senior customer service representative 37 salaries reported	$19.69 per hour
Refuse collector 11 salaries reported	$25.93 per hour
Customer service representative 10 salaries reported	$18.04 per hour

Working at City of Olathe: Company Overview and Reviews

City of Olathe

City of Olathe Ratings

Popular jobs at City of Olathe

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected