senior clinician

equipment operator

account clerk

activity leader

recreation aide

City of Virginia Beach

Public Works/ Waste Management Department went from one of the best departments to work in to the worst department in the city!. It happened in a matter of a few years.  I experienced three management changes, going from the best management or let’s say the GOOD management to the next being the BAD management and then now currently the WORST! Instead of bringing in new people for fresh ideas and leadership, they continue to recycle the employees that currently work there, in some instances they’re bringing back employees who resigned years ago and bring them back to fill in positions! They are continuing to use the same tactics that don’t seem to work and implement them in daily work practices! For instance, they have us dumping at a landfill that is clearly unsafe just to save money! I would not advise anyone to apply in this department, unless you’re chasing a check and you don’t want a progression in your life! They make excuses to why they can’t train you, because they don’t have enough employees to cover the routes. So you stay stagnant in your position because of the lack of manpower! Stay away from the Waste Management department!. I warned you!.

It is expected that salaried employees work as City/VB City Council sees fit- because they are exempt, often times taken advantage of as far as the number of hours they work. I have brought this issue to Human Resources for compensation to no avail.  This is specifically in IT. It could be different in other departments. For example, I attended a work conference during the work week (M-F). I traveled the previous Sunday and returned the following Saturday. I had the work the next day(Sunday) as a weekend process were running and was required to monitor the process. When I inquired about Comp time, I was denied because I was salaried/exempt. I was (literally) told, "Travel time was not considered, 'work time' ". When asked in regards to have a day off, I was forced to use PTO.  The City is incredibly short of personnel and the work load increases for remaining staff. A person resigned last year on the team. No one has been hired to replace the person that resigned. Another is retiring. Still, no preparation for a replacement.
Quite often, the city does advertise the benefits (and there are some), but absolutely no time to utilize learning & career growth opportunities due to the level of daily work/work hours required.  I would not recommend.

Contract administion for C.I.P. projects. Field engineering decision & design, review plans, set up preconstruction meeting and run, set books and files up for that project, keep daily work sheets with quantities and project activities, do monthly estimates, change orders and formal notification as needed start to finish, close out each project books, keep as-builds on plans and all changes to plans, correspond with all private utilities and railroads, handle all complaints public and city’s. Inspect all phase of roadwork , ranging from storm drain, water, sewer, earth work, soil cement , lime, stone , concrete, concrete paving, asphalt, traffic items, bridges, box culverts and erosion control items. I have installed storm drain, water-lines, sewer lines, and build structures, order materials, tested all water lines and sewer lines to compliance with the city’s standards by flushing, chlorine, bacteriologic test and hydrostatic pressure test, infiltration and exfiltration test on sewer. Special skills set up laser, use transit, level and run most equipment.

Limited advancement, must get job offer elsewhere to negotiate a raise;  the benefits are not conducive to families with only 12 days off per year including sick and vacation; 1-2%  merit increases for all,  including poor performers; limited diversity and inclusion - don't be fooled by their mandatory training,  women get the raw end of the deal; no female Deputy City Managers; the city manager is impulsive and decisions are based on emotions; he's often irrational. Obtaining a high position is often due to who you know. Overall, it's unhealthy from my experience. But,  with the Virginia economy in shambles,  it is better than nothing.

Coming together in a unit is very important to find ways to improve the clients lives. As a team keeping a positive attitute and reminding ourself that our main goal is to help clients our work progress should remain positive. Knowing when to take time for yourself is very important when assisting with problem solving in order to give 100 %. My personal experience is to go as far as possible to assist the client, sometimes beyond. Many workers only go as far as being told but sometimes we have to put a little more effort and show our clients that we care and we do want them to rise above any concerns or problems.I have always enjoyed helping people and it should be apart of everyones life not just social workers. I may not be able to change the world, but I can do my part by making a diffference to a portion of the world.

A typical day at work can range from slow and boring to extremely busy and stressful depending on the day's events and rentals. I have learned a lot about teamwork and time management with this position and expect to continue my growth throughout the years. Management can sometimes be a bit stubborn but if you push for what you need (hours wise), you can usually get it. The workplace is a combination of relaxed and stressful but there is a lot of cooperation and friendliness among the workers. The hardest part of the job is enforcing the rules evenly and consistently with other guards, especially with stubborn patrons and dealing with the stress and worry about an emergency occurring at any moment. The most enjoyable part of the job is getting to know the regular patrons and connecting with the community.

Management expects line workers to give up family and work. Upper management is lazy and do not know simple federal guidelines for state mandated programs. Bullying and hostile work environments happen by most management. Lazy workers get promoted when they mess up and get to cover their tracks. Hard workers with ethics get punished for speaking up and then get more worked dumped on them. If you know people in higher positions, you can pretty much run your own business out of your office and not work(this happened while I was there). Conflict of interest is ALLLLL over the place.  They divert mandates for their friends in managements and allow neglect to happen in the community.  This list goes on.

The Out-of-School Time Unit is a fun, safe, and inclusive environment for children ages 5-12. This unit offers before- and after-school programs, holiday Break Camps, and Summer Camps at Virginia Beach elementary schools and Recreation Centers. The most enjoyable part of this position is building relationships with children who need positive reinforcement and encouragement on a daily basis. Through working with children and co-workers from diverse backgrounds, I have strengthened my communication and people management skills. Though the environment is fast-paced and sometimes challenging, the valuable element of teamwork ensures the program's success.

I am a current employee of the city and am actively looking for employment elsewhere due to the conditions I am currently working under. For the most part the team I work with is tolerable. My supervisor does her best. However the hiring process and amount of time it takes for ppl to get hired places undue stress on current employees. There is no reason that one person should ever be expected to carry a caseload of over 80 people. It is reckless and completely absurd. There are very apparent "favorites", making it a very uncomfortable and unwelcoming culture for newer employees to start in. There is also misuse of employee talents, and very hard working and talented employees are being managed in a way that it is impossible for their full potential to be seen.

If you're thinking that putting in some years with a government job will be worth the retirement $, please, reconsider. Management acts like the sky is constantly falling every single day- its like working in a nonstop panic room. Leadership is immature, routinely makes people feel uncomfortable in order to seem funny. Managers struggle to make decisions, or often forget decisions they have made and your hard work will become a waste. Ton of politicking and trash talking (and yes I know its government, but we aren't in elected positions here, we are working on projects) that becomes utterly exhausting. 

I will stop myself from going on a longer rant but I will just say this- we spend too much time at work to spend it so miserably, and the paycheck will not override the misery.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior clinician 59 salaries reported	$79,325 per year
Equipment operator 57 salaries reported	$55,028 per year
Account clerk 17 salaries reported	$49,033 per year
Activity leader 22 salaries reported	$19.77 per hour
Recreation aide 38 salaries reported	$17.91 per hour

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