registered nurse - medical / surgical

office assistant

registered nurse

administrative assistant

correctional officer

State of Illinois

#1 - this is a union job which for better or worse means you really don't work overtime or weekends, but it also means you can't over achieve by working extra hours, or make up for any inefficiencies during your day.  This means no internet, no phone calls, no socializing.  I'm not saying one should be able to goof off all day, but as a government job, it comes with certain unrealistic expectations regarding work-life balance.  It reminded me of the cartoon where the dog and the wolf punch the clock.  They literally lock the doors at 5 pm

#2 - I learned about the NAIC's risk assessment / oversight process - which in large part consisted off rehashing other peoples reports into a state report to review and discover companies with potential solvency issues.  So information from audit reports and 10K's gets pulled out and placed into the states' report as part of the NAIC review process.  I also learned about the use of ReservePro software which is generally useless for reserving as it only goes out 10 years using information from Schedule P of the annual statement.  As such, the work was largely clerical or boring.  If you don't have reserving experience it might be an opportunity to learn something.  When i left they were trying to develop 'best practices' for reviews of companies pricing methods, but with class plans and pricing methods varying so much, its hard to imagine this would be beneficial for an actuarial student

#3. Management.  I meet with my boss once a week, any follow up questions outside of this meeting were considered an interruption and frowned upon, actually forbidden.  Each week we zigged and zagged as the directions from her were changed.  In short, when its wasn't boring, it was frustrating as we spun our wheels on assignments under her direction

#4.  Other than management, the coworkers were pleasant, friendly, and as helpful as they could be given the situation.  However, most have been there in springfield for sometime and grew up in the area.  They stay there, in Springfield, because 'its a good place to raise a family'.  I considered this code for "there was nothing else to do but have cookouts and eat at chain restaurants, and not the good kind".  I never found a good asian or pizza place

#5  The hardest part of the job.  Well other than management, the boring work, and the low pay, the place was somewhat political and the ergonomics were atrociously bad.  I sat across the wall from a lady who answered the phone ALL DAY and was constantly extending her conversations as long as humanly possible, I can still hear her empathetically saying "Well Bless her heart"

#6  The most enjoyable part of the job was leaving it.  And as bad as the job was, the worst part of it was Springfield itself.  I have never seen a community where the have's and have nots are so sharply divided.  Its been a couple of years, so believe it or not, as bad as this review is i'm not bitter about the experience anymore, I swear this is an honest and accurate review.  The experience taught me a lot about how where you live impacts your job satisfaction.  Had the community been a better experience, then the job experience would have been better but still bad.  Finally, if you take this job and move there, then plan on buying a house because the rental situation for housing is also extremely bad.  If you buy a house, then you're really trapped.  Wait, there was one good thing.  Actually two.  The commute was short, generally < 20-30 minutes and I found a planet fitness which only cost $10 per month.  Coming from Chicago it was a real culture shock in terms of shopping, health clubs, housing, dining, and entertainment opportunities.  If Browner wants to fix Illinois government, he should move the state capital to Chicago.  Finally, the weather was also bad.  In the summer, its all humidity, and in the winter, its all freezing rain or wet snow.

The job is incredibly HIGH STRESSED. The drama alone will make you dread coming into work. The youth are the easiest part of the job, minus the occasions you get injured trying to restrain a youth, but your coworkers and management will primarily stress you out. The youth are children at the end of the day, but like all children they adjust better to consistency and discipline.

However, this job lacks consistency. You would expect there to be definitive rules that are followed for a youth prison, but there are rule guidelines. The majority of your job is in the gray area. Each staff runs their unit differently. The more senior staff have a more nonchalant approach to running their unit. Each supervisors, on each shift tolerates different behavior and accepts different ways to run the unit. You must learn to operate in the gray area that keeps your unit running smoothly but does not require your supervisors to get involved. If things escalate, then you are mostly on your own for being in trouble and not following the rules.  They hire strong intellectual people to outsmart the youth and talk the youth into complying with the expected facility behavior. However, you cannot use that intellect to question protocols, disparities, or inconsistencies. You must be more of a soldier that takes orders from management. It is a very slippery slope. The system is broken, you will see some corrupt things, but do not try to fix them. It will make you an isolated employee. You must instead see the bad, accept that bad will exist, be okay with it, and try to keep your distance from it (work around it and not lose your own integrity and become institutionalized in accepting the unethical ways the facility is ran). 

Also, everyone gossips about you and your personal life. Expect to be lied on and expect to hear rumors. They will tell you this in the academy. Expect for your information shared at HR to be public facility knowledge. Nothing is kept secret. Expect to be thrown under the bus while someone saves their own backside. It is a very self-preserving culture.

Also, this job operates on seniority. As long as you are a lower to medium level seniority staff,  you will not have schedule security. Unless you work on 2nd shift, expect to have your off days or shift to be unexpectedly changed (including around holiday time). Everyone avoids 2nd shift because it is the most chaotic. 

People call off and quit often, so expect the pressure to have to work overtime all the time. 

The only thing that saves this job is the salary. It is not a career job I would recommend to anyone, UNLESS you are in it to make money and plan to leave to pursue a real passion at some point. If you can put up with all of that to help teach and love some broken children, earn lots of money, work a lot of overtime to make big purchases or pay debt then I would so go forth. If you want to work for fulfillment, I would find another career or facility. This job will burn you out, FAST.

Working in this organization feels like being caught in a slow-moving treadmill where the scenery never changes. The days are characterized by a management that seems more focused on disciplining employees rather than nurturing growth or improving operations. The constant mandates and uneducated decisions create an atmosphere of frustration.

I've learned the art of patience and navigating bureaucratic hurdles here, but these lessons come at the cost of professional growth and meaningful work engagements. The upward mobility program, intended to promote growth, ironically ends up placing unqualified individuals in critical positions based merely on seniority. This not only hampers effective functioning but also creates a breeding ground for incompetence.

Management's sluggish pace in posting jobs, interviewing, and hiring is bewildering, especially in a state desperate for employment opportunities. The lack of feedback on job applications adds to the disheartening experience, making the wait for progress an endless game.

The workplace culture is nothing short of demotivating. The distance between management and employees seems to be growing, fostering a culture of disillusionment and complacency. It feels like the efforts to improve or advance are constantly stifled by a system resistant to change.

The hardest part of the job is dealing with the perpetual stagnancy and the mental exhaustion that comes with it. The lack of clear trajectories for advancement and the absence of qualified leadership make the job a taxing endeavor.

The glimmer of enjoyment, though rare, comes from the camaraderie among colleagues. Bonding over shared frustrations and navigating the system’s shortcomings together provides a sense of community in an otherwise isolating environment.

In a nutshell, this organization’s inability to effectively manage and nurture talent amidst a critical employment scenario in Illinois is disheartening. The slow bureaucratic processes not only deter potential employees but also stifle the existing workforce's morale and productivity.

Working for DCFS is rewarding in that we try to ensure the safety of Illinois children. However, there are severe systemic problems. We have outdated information systems, an outdated employee timekeeping system, there are information silos (some information may be in one database or system, but not found in the others, and information is often not updated), There is high turnover in nearly every division of DCFS. The people come, but have no desire to stay in positions, making if terribly difficult for managers to plan & delegate tasks appropriately & provide adequate services to children & families. When employees abruptly quit, their work is oftentimes left undone for long periods of time or is passed on to other workers, increasing their loads. All of this leads to very low morale and high turnover. If DCFS changed its hiring policies to make it so that when employees bid on positions, they are required to stay in that position for a certain length of time so that services are not disrupted abruptly. Caseworkers are not being adequately trained and are making mistakes that are costly, so they quit to avoid repercussions. It takes a very long for DCS to fill positions once they become vacant. Employees go months and months and months without a proper supervisor. 

DCFS employees are in helping professions, and, therefore, many want to contribute and be of great help, but they are hindered due to these systemic problems that almost always compromises the safety and health of Illinois children & families under DCFS care and case management. 

I was employed for only 10 months during which time I had completed the classroom portion of the Disability Claims Adjudicator. I was a trainee. It was an 18-month program. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to finish my TRAINING before judgement befell me. I do not feel this is fair or conducive to helping trainees learn the immense amount of information that is needed to do their job. I found it extremely unjust. Once you finish the classroom portion, you are working a FULL LOAD in as little as only 2 months. Impossible. Individual assistance is necessary and should be given. It USED to be that way but no more. I was not given much, if any, help by my supervisor. Not until I was give a last-ditch, 6-week, warning about my progress was I even asked if I would like a mentor. Regardless, it turned out to be fruitless as the individual didn't give a rat's *** whether I succeeded or not. He spent VERY little time with me and didn't care about the claimants. To say it was rough, is putting it lightly. I was told that if I had been under the auspices of a different supervisor I would still be working there. The job is near to impossible and extremely stressful. That is probably why so many fail. The retention rate is about 30%. 70% don't make it through the program. AND...there are at least 20,000 cases sitting in the basement that need to be completed at any given time. The place has a very unfriendly culture that is almost territorial. It is not a team atmosphere and you will not always feel welcome depending on what part of the building you happen to be in. So, if you know of anyone who has taken a position such as this, WARN them. It's purely about the numbers...and NOT about the people. And that inlcudes YOU.

A typical work day at Rehabilitation Services was answering calls from clients and employers and medical facilities, giving answers to their questions or referring them to a counselor that could.  Keeping counselor itinerary and travel voucher, typing up notes in clients files to keep them up to date, and sending out appointments to meet with their counselor.  Ordering office supplies and keeping the supply room in order.  Distributing mail and sending out mail.  Making necessary calls per each clients file and noting them.  Authorizing and Vouchering payments for services the State rendered for the client such as school, dentist,doctor, hospital etc. I also assisted in any of our sister offices for a couple days when I was needed, and also kept up my own work.

I learned a lot about peoples disabilities physically and mentally and how to handle difficult clients.'

I knew how to do my work without supervision and kept all my priorities straight so that my work was completed by the end of the day.  I also trained all new case coordinators with "hands on" training.

There was "no hard part" about my job.  I loved my job and getting to know each individual client as a person.  I also loved the people I worked with and they became like a second family to me.  We always celebrated employees birthdays, and retirements which I enjoyed because we tried everyones new recipes.

There were some major plus to working for State of illinois Dept of Revenue Tobacco Compliance Prog.  If the position were permanent with benefits I would have had more positive things to report.  

I was hired as a contract employee. I thought that the position would be converted to permanent.  It was not.  Consequently the attitude and behaviour of mgmt wasN'T to create long-term employees.  It was more like the trial period you experience when you work for a Temp Agency and are on assignment at a company. 

No workstep instructions, or job procedures. Senior employees, new employees and managers gave different answers to the same question. 

Critical changes were rolled out via email; emails that often included several different topics.  It wasn't uncommon to rcv a forward titled "frwd" or "request office supplies" and it include major duty changes.  

In addition, absolutely no log of changes that employees cld reference, a large amount fault finding with no methods, tips, or worksteps to eliminate errors. Requests for performance meetings and OJT with my supervisor were ignored. 

It was clear that contract employees did not hold the same value as permanent employees.

Fist off this was a very rewarding job. It required a vast array of skills. I was employed by the State of Illinois as a Personal Assistant for my mother who passed away in November of last year.

A typical day a at work was usually enjoyable. I would start off the day by getting her out of bed. Get her dressed and cleaned up for the day. I would then administer medications and tend to her bandages. She was in a wheelchair and I would push her everywhere she needed to go. I did all the cooking and cleaning. I would take her to all of her appointments. I also tended to her finances and helped her negotiate payments for all of her medical bills.My job was to do the things that she could not. Once she was comfortable and chores complete, I would leave for my other job. I would return later to put her to bed.

I learned quite a bit over the decade working for her. I learned that taking care of some one is difficult at times. I learned how to help the disabled overcome fear that is associated with loneliness. 

I would say the hardest part of the job was watching my mother struggle with tasks and situations that most take for granted.

The biggest reward for me was learning how to be compassionate, patient, and to be thankful.

My time at the State of Illinois - Department of Human Services (DHS) has provided me with a significant amount of experience. I have participated in numerous cases where clients demonstrated needs for government-assisted services such as food stamps and medical insurance. I believe the most valuable asset I have gained was my ability to make a difference in people's lives. 
A typical day would be interviewing customers in person or via telephone, explain qualifying criteria, and obtain information. Time management, organizational skills, and interpersonal skills are the essentials for productivity.  It was a fast paced environment with over 300 customers on a daily basis from varying ethnicities and socioeconomic levels. My co-workers were amazing to work with. 
There was a sense of teamwork.  We all depended on each other and everyone was a team player. It was family-oriented with different cultures, and the best part was having various functions for different occasions. We were the United Nations of DHS. What I have learned is that many people live below the poverty level, but we are able to provide assistance in the fight against homelessness and hunger.

The State has made some horrible changes in the last few years that were supposed to improve the workplace. The changes include: 
1.Removing our caseloads, customers no longer have an assigned caseworker. We are now micromanaged by administrators and managers. They tell us what to do and change the assignment as they please. They use the term  “based on operational needs” to do as they please. 
2. We are forced to work with a computer system that was implemented a few years ago. It was supposed to make our job as caseworkers easier, instead we process a lot less and have to work around the system errors. 

I can go on and on. We are all burned out and miserable but management could care less. 

I used to love my job but now I dread working. On a daily basis, we are constantly reminded by numerous emails on how much work we have to do and then changing the assignment often. The stress is unbelievable. Being a caseworker meant a lot more a few years back but now I feel like a paper pusher. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse - medical / surgical 3 salaries reported	$68.00 per hour
Office assistant 8 salaries reported	$4,639 per month
Registered nurse 1 salary reported	$50.00 per hour
Administrative assistant 3 salaries reported	$6,630 per month
Correctional officer 4 salaries reported	$5,555 per month

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