postdoctoral fellow

research assistant

fellow

graduate researcher

research associate

Harvard University

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at Harvard University is the opportunity for personal and professional growth as a result of the people/colleagues one interacts with, the high quality of job content, and the exposure to the academic and research components of the University.  I worked in the area of research and managed a multimillion-dollar financial portfolio of awards.   My requirement to communicate with internal and external clients at every level of Harvard University and funding sponsors' organizations has honed my skills in working with people in a manner that captures their interest, encourages active participation, and creates a positive, productive environment.   I know how to make my clients and peers feel valued and motivated.  Working at Harvard University was the opportunity of a lifetime.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful and, at the same time, most rewarding part of working at Harvard is the realization that one is expected to demonstrate peak performance and skill mastery each day.   This approach means daily working at one's optimal level of physical, mental, and emotional energy; and utilizing one's full range of skills and knowledge effectively, and continuously seeking to improve them.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment and culture at Harvard University embodies a  pursuit of the highest level of excellence and integrity in regard to interaction with people internal and external to the University, managing the work, personal and professional development, and assuming responsibility for Harvard University's image of excellence.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day involved:
1.  Reviewing my list of To Do's prepared for the week.
2. Researching the information required to analyze  the financial status of specific sponsors' awards for which reports are due.
3.  Reviewing federal regulations and nonfederal award terms and conditions to support financial reporting.
4.  Preparing scheduled and ad hoc financial reports due for specific sponsors
5.  Attending scheduled and ad hoc meetings with clients (internal and external to my office).
6.  Preparing presentations to be delivered in meetings (internal and external to my office).
7.  Delivering presentations.
8.   Using internal and external designed apps to manage, to report on, and to reconcile research/sponsored accounts.
9.   Studying old and new compliance regulations that apply to federal awards.
10.   Reviewing old and new nonfederal award terms and conditions.
11.  Studying Harvard's old and new sponsored awards management rules.
12.   Preparing spreadsheet presentation tracking the status of all sponsored research accounts in my financial portfolio for meeting with my managing supervisor.
13.  Learning new and updated sponsored research apps.
14.  Handling any emergency or special assignments related to my or others' portfolios

I've worked part-time as a research associate at Harvard Business School for two years with a number of different professors, research teams, and initiatives while pursuing a full-time graduate degree at Harvard University. I tell my friends and family that it feels like I'm in a dual-degree program. The environment at HBS is very intellectually stimulating and I've been given every opportunity to synthesize my academic and professional interests as a result, which has been very rewarding. 

This is not unusual. I know other graduate students across the university who have also served as research associates at HBS (and elsewhere within the Harvard ecosystem) who have had similar experiences. 

Those RAs who have had less than rosy experiences usually attribute it to a poor match with their professor, and in my experience, I've noticed colleagues struggle when their professors are up for tenure or struggling with personal or professional problems. Personally, I've been blessed to work with professors who have become friends as much as colleagues and who've invested in my growth in ways too numerous to recount. 

Working as a researcher at HBS (or Harvard more generally) opens up a world of opportunities to learn, to meet interesting and successful people, and to contribute to important work outside the academy. HBS especially has professors who are interested in working in a consulting capacity to governments, companies, and non-profits.

I don't have a way to gauge work-life balance in a full-time role at HBS, but part-time I will say that I've consistently had the opportunity to set my own hours around my course schedule, which has been incredibly helpful.  I will say that I sometimes receive (and answer) emails from people at ungodly hours, but that's a personal choice and I know colleagues who are much more intentional about how they guard or structure their time. 

Compared to other Harvard Schools, the pay for a research associate at HBS is very competitive at around $25-30/hour rather than $15-20 for most other research opportunities. I've seen that roles which require technical computer skills like R or MATLAB, or a prior graduate degree (lots of organizational behavior roles) pay toward the higher end of the spectrum. Generally, research associate roles begin at 20 hours/week and are fully eligible for benefits, however, Harvard students are not eligible to receive these benefits.

A typical day of work at Harvard University started for me at 9 am, sometimes earlier, it involved 10h days at work during weekdays and a significant number of hours in the weekend, due to the nature of the work at hand. I loved the motivation of entering the Lab in the mornings, the first moments of designing and managing my tasks for the day, brief or more thorough interactions with my colleagues and employer, the team spirit within the lab, the buzz of activity while progressing through my daily schedule, planning ahead, thinking outside of the box, perceiving that I am in a research environment of excellent caliber within which I am driven to grow further as a scientist and person. I was very appreciative of the open workplace culture and the affluence of resources, the access to state-of-the-art facilities, I enjoyed opportunities for further professional development offered by Harvard University and the Lab, meeting and discussing with peers, collaborators, industrial sponsors, enlightened and well-respected scientists from diverse academic backgrounds, social events organized by our and neighboring Labs. The hardest part of the job was having to prioritize mainly on the execution of the set work objectives, among additional ideas / prospective advancements and work derivatives that were of interest to me and the group besides the projects I eloquently developed. The most enjoyable part of the job was the challenge and satisfaction of causing experiments to work optimally and generating exciting research outcomes. I learned how vital it is to utilize and combine existing work platforms, and established expertise while implementing more novel powerful technologies and high-throughput data analysis, working in collaboration with peers and constructively communicating with them to evolve projects into a next level of efficiency/functionality/applicability. I feel grateful for the experiences I had at Harvard University and certainly hope to return there one day.

Provides technical support in the use of personal computer hardware, software, and
specialized mainframe technology or operates a multi- platform, complex computer
environment or monitor the production scheduling, execution, and successful completion
of production jobs;
2. Sets up and configures desktop computers, peripherals and accounts assigning security
level;
3. Installs software and installs and repairs hardware and peripherals;
4. Tests programs;
5. Troubleshoots, diagnoses problems, implements corrective action procedures and/or
escalates to other technical resources as appropriate;
6. Serves as technical resource to unit;

7. Maintains, updates or creates systems, databases and web pages using front-end user-
enhanced web tools within prescribed guidelines;

8. Administers user accounts;
9. Designs and produces moderately complex reports;

10. Researches and recommends system equipment upgrades and manages equipment
inventory;
11. Sets up and submits production jobs and edits and debugs computer output;
12. Troubleshoots, repairs and maintenance for computer equipment (e.g. microcomputers,
disk drives, and laser printers) tests personal computers and peripherals on a network to
diagnose, hardware versus software problems and escalates corrective procedures to
other technical resources as appropriate;
13. Acts as a customer liaison for the computing operation, communicating, resolving, and/or
initiating the resolution of problems and concerns;
14. Develops and tests user documentation;
15. Works with hardware vendors to resolve equipment failures/problems;
16. May perform routine security checks on the system;
Installs, repairs and removes wire and cable lines;
17. Assists with complex technical projects;
18. Contributes to unit goals by accomplishing related duties as required.

Veritas
A typical day at work is getting questioned by a "permit Patty" woman while you're taking notes on your first day at work.  
Also Campus Services pretend they are working, but are surfing the internet all day and they are overstaffed, but seem not to be able to get the work done as they only want to to the minimal.

There is a bully culture rampant and accepted in the parking department and it's like 1950's Mad Men culture there and I stand by it.  An employee made fun of someone who died on the job at Harvard which surely isn't Harvard standards.  If you're going to be honest about bullying at Harvard, you should address the culture at the Harvard Campus Service Department.  Union protects horrible employees and I guess they tolerate this work behavior at Harvard University nowadays.  Very unprofessional.  I shouldn't have to have to write an online review to address these issues, but I shouldn't be obligated to deal with this culture; is this acceptable to Harvard?

The clerical union people at Harvard never do their jobs and are hardly in their offices in the Harvard Campus Center, Housing, but that's accepted it seems from the toxic culture.  I can go on about other examples, but this gives you the idea.

Employees won't do some job while customers wait for ID's as they only do Parking and Housing so customers wait while they talk.

The management is hands off an non-existent and there is rampant turnover in the department.  

Qualified candidates are overlooked by arbitrary measures of employment criteria.

Harvard shouldn't accept such low standards in their Harvard Campus Services.

A typical day a work does not exist in research but I will try to do the best I can.
My day would start at 5am when I would start by setting up the lab and getting it ready for the other researchers. Then I would prepare my own experiments and while waiting in between steps I would check the lab stock and order what ever was needed. Next would be to check the equipment and ensure that it was all running properly, if not I would then take the appropriate steps necessary to get what ever it was to function, By now the other researchers would be coming in and I would start helping them with what they needed and check on my own experiments. I would some times go over the lab inventory and contact vendors to get the best prices on equipment that we needed to replace, (I once negotiated a 15000 freezer down to 3000). This part of my job I really enjoyed.
My greatest achievements were my people skills and keeping such a high stress work place a fun but productive place to be,
Now I would finish up my experiments and check on every one else to make sure that they didn't need anything and then I would go home around 7pm. 
The most rewarding part of my job was lab management...I really enjoyed working with people whether it be building operations, vendors, equipment repair or other staff. The feeling of accomplishment when you could get things done quicker and easier than most people was great,and I have always been a people person.

I wanted to clarify that Harvard University is decentralized and so each school usually runs as an individual.

My co-workers are fantastic.

My average support ratio of clients to technician was 400 to 1.

The hardest part of the job was managing all the clients for tier 2 support while handling 15+ hours a week of tier 1 telephones, on top of 3 to 4 technical projects with deadlines.

Management did not provide constructive feedback for improvement or help you manage your time. There was a very heavy, you must thrive in chaos mentality with the expectation of perfection.

Management also promised many things to the group that was never followed through on such as raises, bonuses, training, renovations, etc.

I did not receive a single training for career development that I was given time to actually attend.

Out of the software that we support we were trained or provided training in what I would say is 10% of the software we supported. This caused very inconsistent diagnostics between technicians.

I learned a lot, because we did not really have any technical policy on what we didn't support. Anything that was owned by Harvard was usually given support so a lot of the technicians resolved the problems through ingenuity and self training under pressure, which inadvertently makes you learn a lot.

The most enjoyable and hardest part of the job was interacting with people. You definitely meet a wide variety of people and have to change your communication skills appropriately.

Culture: 
Generally people go out of their way to be helpful and nice around Harvard- not what I first expected.  That said, there is certainly a contingent of folks who zero in on any perceived weaknesses and aren't shy about it.  
Since Harvard is very decentralized; the various schools, departments, etc. can have very different ways of doing things and social cultures.  Almost everyone is a tad competitive, and high expectations can often lead to burnout.  HR and benefits, etc. are very proactive and helpful in these subjects though, and will help employees to work through any issues they may have.  Some places are relaxed and fun, others are a grind, but many folks find balance between work and other life distractions, of which Harvard is overflowing.   

Best aspects:
There is also a wonderful array of wellness and health opportunities and the benefits offered at large are fantastic.  In addition to great health care, professional development, and discounted tickets, etc.  one never knows who you might meet.  So many interesting things are occurring on every corner of campus at any given time, that there is an added layer of "goings on" beyond the public and private programs.  I've seen Oprah, Al Gore (twice), and can now count Nobel Prize winners as friends.  If you enjoy thoughtful conversation and innovative ideas, it's never far from reach here, or in Cambridge in general.

A typical day at work consisted of answering phone calls, checking and responding to e-mails, entering information into various databases, documenting filing, etc. I was responsible for coordinating transfers within Harvard facilities as well as imports from non-approved and approved vendors. I also took on the responsibilities of an animal procurement officer toward the end of my position as well. I worked in a small office of 6 people and we all did well working as a team to accomplish the overall goals that our office set out to achieve. The office vibe, although fast-paced, was comfortable and everyone worked together happily.

Typical work days were from 8:30am to 4:30pm. My specific job was very detail oriented and I found myself acquiring better organizational skills as well as communicative skills in terms of answering and speaking directly with people of various diversities. To be completely honest I don't think that I can pinpoint the hardest part of the job. I proudly admit that I caught on to the position relatively quickly and never encountered a major or minor issue, things ran very smoothly which I enjoyed very much.

Unfortunately I was only at Harvard through a term position due to the fact that I was covering for a woman who went on maternity leave. However, over the 6 month period that I was there I developed wonderful relationships with my colleagues and that is something that I am grateful for.

Harvard is a wonderful place to work.  The school has so many brilliant thinkers, and more importantly, active doers who contribute to their community and the world at large.  The nature of the school is "asking what you can do" - which, simultaneously asks one to see what they can do with their own potential and also asks people to have the mind set of doing what you can for others.  

A typical day at the job involves setting up audio and video systems for forums, presentations and classes.  I have learned how to troubleshoot various computer problems, as well as become familiar with our archiving systems.  Also, I have learned how to use more professional cameras and audio equipment to ensure successful, high quality events.  

My co-workers and management are fantastic.  They are all very smart people with tremendous skills and resources available to them.  They have a very balanced approach to the work, a strong work ethic, treat employees fairly and respectfully and really go above and beyond to ensure all media services function smoothly.

The hardest part of my job is the inconsistent hours.  While it is wonderful to work there, I truly wish it was full-time or at the very least had a regular part time schedule.  Due to the nature of the events and forums, the scheduling is a bit irregular and hard to coordinate.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Postdoctoral fellow 66 salaries reported	$75,853 per year
Research assistant 12 salaries reported	$52,208 per year
Fellow 13 salaries reported	$72,453 per year
Graduate researcher 12 salaries reported	$47,000 per year
Research associate 12 salaries reported	$84,125 per year

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