graduate researcher

research assistant

teaching assistant

graduate assistant

student researcher

Purdue University

Working at  Purdue was a rollercoaster of highs and lows, primarily due to significant leadership and compensation issues that plagued the organization. My time there was marked by frustration, as it often felt like promotions and opportunities were only accessible through the "buddy system."

Leadership:

The leadership left much to be desired. It was evident that decision-making was often influenced by personal relationships rather than merit or qualifications. This created a toxic work environment where favoritism was rampant, and those in leadership positions seemed more interested in protecting their inner circle than nurturing talent within the company.

Communication from upper management was inconsistent, and transparency was virtually nonexistent. Employees were left in the dark about company objectives and the rationale behind certain decisions. This lack of clarity only fueled feelings of resentment and disconnection among the workforce.

Compensation:

Compensation was a major source of frustration. It was clear that salaries were not aligned with market standards or the level of effort employees put into their work. Raises and bonuses were few and far between, and even when they did occur, they were often paltry and disproportionate to the workload.

Promotions:

Promotions were perhaps the most disheartening aspect of my experience there. It became painfully obvious that climbing the corporate ladder was more about who you knew than what you knew. The "buddy system" was alive and well, and individuals who were well-connected or had personal relationships with higher-ups seemed to effortlessly advance, while those who merited promotions were consistently overlooked.

The lack of a fair and transparent promotion process was demoralizing. It sowed discord among colleagues and eroded trust in the company's leadership. Qualified employees, including myself, often found ourselves stagnating in our roles, unable to advance due to this frustrating system.

Overall Experience:

My time there was marked by a sense of frustration and disillusionment. While the company had potential and some talented individuals, the leadership's poor decision-making and favoritism overshadowed any positive aspects of the job. The compensation issues, coupled with the flawed promotion system, made it increasingly difficult to remain motivated and engaged in my work.

In conclusion, Purdue’s leadership and compensation issues, exacerbated by a promotion process that relied heavily on the "buddy system," made for a deeply unsatisfying work experience. It is my hope that the company addresses these problems in the future under new leadership to create a more equitable and productive workplace for its employees.


As an Resident Advisor you focus primarily on your needs as a student first before you deal with anyone else. So you make sure you have everything you need for you classes for the day. You are always on call as Resident Advisor so you have to perfect your time management skills. You have to come ready, because things will start piling up fast on the job and in your classwork. So it can be very fast past, especially when you have projects due for class and the job at the same time.

The way management worked was very simple. We used a website where we would log everything relating to the job. This includes problem students, our personal feelings on a day-to-day basis, when something great happened, and upcoming projects that were planned, ongoing and completed. Management was very easy on the planning/software side of things. I would visit each of the residents had jurisdiction over and get to know them, gain ideas on what they want out of the dormitory experience, offer any help or advise on personal or professional matters, and guide them to the proper sources when it wasn't in my power to help.

The co-workers were especially friendly. Our job required us to break up in groups of three to create even larger events that would usually encompass the residents of the dormitories and commuting students. This were enjoyable both in the brainstorming period and application.

The hardest part of the job is always feeling like there's never enough time. Between your school work, the Resident Advisor job and another part-time job. You were stretched thin, Especially when receiving calls in the middle of the twilight hours to settle some disturbance of some sort. You would feel so tired, but finding the energy to wake up in the morning and do it all over again was a tough battle that always rewarded you when you overcame it.

The greatest moments of the job usually comes from great conversations with residents. It could be sharing funny stories, creating something fun or solving an issue. Those are great moments. Other moments are during the fun events. Like competing in a resident-wide olympics event or going to see a play.

Poor morale amongst employees in all departments. High turn over rate currently Purdue is having issues getting people to work for them due to word of mouth and extremely low pay. In the first 8 months of my employment Purdue lost almost half of the people in my skilled trade for the campus. It's a very weird culture never worked anywhere like Purdue University. Seems like Purdue is still stuck in the 50's. Very old mentality and thought process in management. This creates a rough job culture and a odd unsatisfying place to work. Currently instead of training the employees Purdue instead will have outside contractors come in and eliminate your position.  Raise's depend on who you know or who your related to. When there is a raise it's very minimal. Nepotism is very evident and unbelievable. Job advancement is there for employees who are related to people in high positions. There are alot of people in management with no management background and no classes or training toward management or supervising employee. Skilled trades have absolutely no training. Working at a university a place of education you'd think training would be highly valued but it is not. Extremely low pay and extremely high expectations. More than normal stress on the day to day job from incredibly high expectations lack of training and lack of support from management. Evaluation process is horrible. All safety regulations in all aspects of your job is on your shoulders. More than normal responsabilities for employees and insufficient support from management. Stay away from positions in operations and maintenance due to endless budget cuts and extremely low staff/shadow crew which will add stress to your daily working experience. Hard workers in skilled trades are no longer valued. If they want to get rid of your position they will. Buildings and equipment are literally falling apart but Purdue will continue to nickle and dime repairs. Human resources is not there to help employees it's there to protect and look out for the best interest of Purdue University. 

Good benefits package.

The application analyst reviews the online-submitted admissions applications of prospective international Purdue students. Applications must be complete and accompanying documents, such as high school transcripts and English proficiency scores, must be included. If not included, the application analyst must hold the application in processing pending the applicant's transmission of said documents. Upon receipt of all required documents, application analysts may then be required, depending on specific circumstances, to enter the applicant's grades. Once all analyst-level verifications are complete, the application analyst forwards the application and accompanying documents to admissions counselors for review. Analysts also answer the department phone and e-mail inquiries.

The management of International Undergraduate Admissions is excellent; all in the department know and meet or exceed expectations of performance without appearing to feel exploited or looked down upon.  All staff are aware of the value of the overall work that Purdue, as an institution, does.  The integral nature of the staff's specific tasks to that work is understood, and the staff treat their tasks and the overall work accordingly.

The culture in International Undergraduate Admissions is amicable and helpful while still being professional and holding expectations for excellent and accurate results.  Opportunities for new training and retraining are continually available.

The hardest part of the job is that it is seasonal, with a necessary summer hiatus of 3 full months each year.

The most enjoyable part of the job is knowing that I may yet help someone begin the education they need to achieve world-benefiting work.

Prep cook for John Purdue Room (fine dining)
                       Boiler Bistro (quick service)
                       Westwood (President's mansion)
                       HTM Catering Services
Learned about quantity food production, and it's preparation.
                        cooking on industrial kitchen equipment
                        chemical properties of and between foods
Have been instructed by and worked behind and under many certified Chefs from different culinary backgrounds. They assign a task, explain how they want it done, give me a time-frame and leave me to accomplish it.
My co-workers are mostly students (18-21). Part of my job is to instruct new students with me on some of their prep jobs, as future replacements.
Hardest part of job is conveying the importance of sanitation regulations and enforcing them on youths who have not yet learned (firsthand) the perils and consequences of not complying with them.
I have three days with two, six hour labs, both with twenty students that rotate through kitchen positions weekly. I spend a lot of my time repeating myself, as some students have never been exposed to a kitchen, even at home as a child and have only learned Serv-safe information in theory.
The most enjoyable part of my job is I love my job, it is a passion.
I have always loved preparing food in quantity, now I use equipment made to handle the job, thus the quantity amount has grown a lot. 
I work with expert professionals, who have entered 'achedemia' because they are natural instructors.
Because of my age, working with students teaches me as well, is entertaining and provides humor in my work environment.

As a graduate instructor at Purdue University I had the opportunity to teach students in different Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies courses. When working with students this meant creating syllabi that incorporated student interests, maintaining the course web presence, facilitating class discussion, and providing SWOT feedback to individuals. When working with administrators this meant creating syllabi that fulfilled university requirements, keeping up-to-date on all required trainings, adhering to all university and federal policies governing instruction, and providing timely feedback on project success. 

My fellow graduate instructors, as well as the professors and administrators I worked with, provided support and feedback on how to improve course design.

The hardest part of the job, and the most enjoyable part of the job, happen to be the same. As an instructor I routinely face the dilemma of how to foster a love of learning in students. I want to help foster an intrinsic appreciation of learning in each of my students. To do so requires investing time in getting to know each student and working with individuals to create links between abstract course knowledge and each student's lived experience. This part of the job is, unquestionably, harder than planning syllabi, providing assesments, or any other part of teaching/project management. It is also, by far, the most rewarding part of the job. Helping people identify their interests and aspirations, and then connecting those to a larger whole to create win-win situations is the best part of any job.

Annual pay increases are minimal ($0.20 would be considered generous). Opportunities for promotion are mainly only in title, as the pay increases are not on par with the extra amount of work accompanying them. Work atmosphere is a crapshoot: depending on placement, it can vary widely amongst buildings, shifts, and/or supervisors. I met and had a good working relationship with a few coworkers, some others hostile (through no initiation on my part), and many more not worth remembering. Work-life balance is poor: due to the high turnover rate, many areas remain vacant for months, and skeleton crews will have to pick up the slack. Winter shut down was a blessing, as it was one of the few times I could truly rest and fully focus on my personal interests and hobbies. 

Should you decide to work as a custodian here, do not overextend yourself, because the only acknowledgements you will receive will be 1) an unreasonable increase in workload, and 2) reprimanding when you are unable to always and consistently meet these ever-increasing expectations. Your supervisor and/or Crew Chief might not back you up, and they might throw you under the bus just to "better" their own "image"; your coworkers might, instead of working together to achieve a common goal (thoroughly/efficiently completing tasks), actively work against each other, intentionally disrupting the flow. As previously stated, it's a crapshoot, and there obviously is no universal experience when it comes to such a subject. However, my experience was an exercise in frustration, and six years of my time wasted, when I should have long-since ventured to greener pastures. I have finally washed my hands of this place, a decision for which I am most glad.

I worked as a Visiting Scholar in a lab in the Medicinal Chemistry department-a lab that I worked in as an undergraduate as well. I was going off to graduate school, so as a way to keep me in his lab for the time in between he offered me the title “Visiting Scholar” to put on my resume in exchange for pay (which I didn’t mind at all, I loved his lab and wanted to stay there, and didn’t really need the money). Therefore I had an official title in my job there, but didn’t technically work there in an official capacity (no W-4, etc.). But I do know that actual staff are offered a wonderful benefits package-the pay, however, leaves something to be desired. If that was a “real” job for that time, I would be making a salary in the ballpark range of $32-35k/year, and this a title usually reserved for persons who just completed a Ph. D, or were in the process of doing so. But I loved the people, the environment, and the work that I was doing. I was synthesizing a naturally occurring chemical for the use of treating viral infections. I created a synthetic pathway and we made analogs of this compound to create an SAR for this drug target, because there are no drugs currently on the market that target this receptor. But alas, I went off to grad school and the project got turned over to another grad student who took it to completion. He obviously put much more work into it in the end, but when they published the paper my name was not mentioned, even though I was assured it would be. Anyways, Purdue is a great place to work in general-I know many people who work there and love it. But unless you’re getting tenured, you won’t be making more than a salary in the mid $40,000-$50,000 range.

I worked as an Undergrad TA for the ECE department at Purdue University for a year. My job entailed assisting the Graduate student running the Lab section for one of the classes in their duties, as well as acting in the same capacity. The GTA and I (as well as other UTAs alongside me) would instruct students on the nature of the lab experiments' requirements, assist with any issues that cropped up or answer questions the students had, ensure maintenance of the computer-engineering lab and that all equipment was operational, proctor practical examinations of the course, and provide mentorship for any student in the course in their learning and projects for completing course objectives. As a Microprocessor Design and Interfacing course I had taken before, I was already familiar with the material and was easily able to provide insights I had gained in my own studies to assist others. My major gripes with my position entailed the somewhat inconvenient hours (as well as the somewhat necessary overtime during Office Hours), and that the professor in charge of the course not only changed every semester but also that the microprocessor model used in the lab was changed between semesters which forced me to have to spend a good deal of time adapting to the new device and user interfaces. However, the switch in devices is not a common occurrence, and the hours I work are assigned to me according to availability, so such things were minor annoyances at best.

-	Negotiate and schedule appointments on the Outlook calendars.
-	Schedule all conference and meeting room calendars (Outlook/meetingmaker).
-	Assist with scheduling and organization for special events, lunches, banquets, special receptions.
-	Prepare seminar agendas, escorts, and schedule meetings, arrange dining schedules. Assist seminar speakers with travel plans, agendas, and accommodations. Coordinate and prepare travel for the different Professors in need.
-	Work closely with the business office to verify arrangements and appropriate account charges. Using OnePurdue training to update my supply ordering skills. In charge of FedEx packages and compiling a spread sheet for deliveries. Open office mail and deliver to proper person.
-	Maintain all files for the School including confidential personnel, faculty, and staff.
-	Compile and maintain information on all staff and graduate students addresses, telephone numbers, office numbers, email addresses, home phone numbers, etc.  List has to be updated continuously and published no less than twice a year.  Serve as receptiontist for School of Chemical Engineering.  Greet and screen visitors to the appropriate offices; answer any questions in person or by phone.  Give campus and building directions/information to walk-ins, and/or staff, and visitors.  Direct visitors to appropriate staff member when necessary. I have student contacts (international as well as domestic)

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
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Graduate assistant 19 salaries reported	$26,342 per year
Student researcher 6 salaries reported	$17.83 per hour

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