market researcher

compensation specialist

senior market researcher

SMUD

I served in different rolls at SMUD,and  the majority of my time there was as a tree crew foreman. Safety and accountability was always a key goal for me and  No personal injury, and No vehicle accidents are my highest priority and my records in these areas were always above standards. I learned very quickly that organization and teamwork with clear concise communication are keys to a successful work day. When other employees and co workers under your charge have a buy in frame of mind in their conduct on the job  , They want to do the things required of them in order to accomplish the job at hand safely, efficiently, and professionally.      The management was always key to point in personal safety for the employees and the public and spared no expense or effort to do what was needed to get the job done safely. We were all always treated fairly and respectfully.  If you did something wrong, you heard about it and you were expected to be there on time and ready to work. Thy did hold us to a high expectation and desired from us safety, quality and professional conduct.
   Workplace culture was that most everyone got along real well. Most would pitch in to help at all manners of tasks, but with some employees they needed the extra push to get involved in the team aspect of things. I would say that most to all employees in my group were ready and willing to put in the 110 percent to accomplish what needed to be done. We did have the occasionals that needed the talking (coaching) to get involved, especially when it was a task they did not want to do. Sometimes it lead to other forms of discipline.
    The hardest part of the job was keeping ALL the public happy as it was sometimes trying and difficult. I was very skillful in these negotiations and I could always keep the customer from going to a higher level.
   I would say the most enjoyable part of the job was the responsibility of my team members and crew as well as the accomplishment made throughout my career and I miss it terribly.

The only great thing about smud is the pay. This is a well-known fact in this region. But what you end up with is a company with mostly outdated people who have skills and ideas that were relevant in 1970s. My supervisor is the worst manager I've ever had in my life - no real skills, no empathy, no leadership skills, hard-headed, horrible communication, doesn't read emails and doesn't seem to know how to use outlook - basically a completely useless person. These people stay at smud for years doing pretty much nothing, and they become more and more useless as time progresses and they stay the same. Since smud acts like a government agency, there is a strict headcount so no one gets promoted. The only way to advance is wait for these ancient people to retire and vacate their manger positions then apply and hope you get the job. (I don't have anything against people with experience, but the ones at smud are terrible because most of them never acquired any new skills in the last 30+ years at smud). Getting fired here is really hard too, and this is not helping the company 

I really think smud can lay off more than half the employees on the business side (IT, customer, programs and services, etc) and they would operate just fine. 

 Responsible for maintenance and full lifecycle development and administration of .NET and SharePoint based collaboration, intranet and internet applications
 Designed a SharePoint custom Web Service using WSS to be invoked through a Workflow in SharePoint designer
 Created and designed a Workflow using SharePoint Designer and custom code using Windows Workflow Foundation .NET 3.5
 Branding web pages involving custom themes and logos using HTML and CSS
 Developed a publishing portal for the department to edit and publish dynamic content like news, events, documents and contacts.
 Extensively used UI best practices and Navigation techniques to make the user experience uniform across hundreds of web pages spanning dozens of internal departments.
 Edit and build custom default master pages to enhance user experience and navigation
 Automate list and document processes with event receivers.

I love the people there as human beings so my friends here will have to forgive me but the compensation system is set up to encourage being risk averse and not wanting to take on assignments beyond what is in the job description. As such, employees who love to do the minimum never leave and get promoted through luck or favoritism while employees who enjoy challenges and interesting work end up leaving the golden handcuffs behind to be properly rewarded for tackling the most impactful challenges. In the end, you end up with a mediocre workforce and the same cast of characters in leadership. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working with a team, positive work environment, very team-oriented.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I had no stress you don't need to perfect 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Amazing! Culture is all about teamwork, communicating, working together great place to work.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Organizing, assisting with events, classroom visits, making kits, data entry.

The position was casual so I did not reap all the benefits of a regular position. However, the engineers and other staff I worked with were great. Very happy and helping. I felt like I had been there for years yet only had a short term position. I provided excellent work and even have a letter of recommendation fter a few months with this company.

Diverse culture, SMUD has several community outreach activities. Management listens to their employees and encourages a healthy and productive work environment. The company offers training classes, and employee recognition.

Apparently they have Asbestos issues, which explains the notification dropped on my chair with no other explanation.

There were at least two employees in the facility who had developed some form of cancer after working there, I requested to be relocated to a different facility.

I was fired shortly there after.

After being fed all the typical corporate propaganda about how much they value employees they appear disingenuous.

Typical work culture but Manager and N/W director were flexible and supportive. One issue i saw was gender bias. Team-mate thought he can lie and blame a woman (but luckily an other teammate was there to prove the man wrong). But this did not change by taking a serious action on the man. Instead the woman was let go off the company though she did not create a scene just because the man was a citizen.

While SMUD provides great benefits, and a competitive salary, I would say that the culture desires a change from the norm of working in a silo to working more collaborative as my team does.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Market researcher 2 salaries reported	$101,216 per year
Compensation specialist 2 salaries reported	$139,791 per year
Senior market researcher 1 salary reported	$97,248 per year

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