investigator

rv technician

senior research assistant

postdoctoral researcher

engineer

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Job security at WHOI is by enlarge dependent on soft money.  When the money within an individual project runs out the job goes away. Few projects can guarantee funding for more than six months to a year.  The institution does little to support people finding new jobs and management is virtually an unknown concept at WHOI.    The location is very isolated and there are few other opportunities in the area.  Technical staff is overworked and gets little credit.  While WHOI has a respected name as an institution it is really more like a technology park with little or no coordination within projects and even within different departments.  Little opportunity for advancement makes for a stagnant environment devoid of ambition as well as a tremendous overhead making funding increasingly difficult.  WHOI is going through quite a rough patch at the moment and it will be interesting to see what the future is for institutions that are almost 100% dependent on soft money.

WHOI is a great scientific institute conducting really state-of-the-art research in oceanography and ocean engineering. There are lots of really great people to learn from in each of the departments, but there are also some outdated views that are held by some of the older scientists and folks, e.g., with regards to DEI issues. While diversity is increasing and efforts are being made to address this, it is slow and this part of Cape Cod is not really a diverse place. Young people may have difficulty building a community here because it is located in a small cape town with relatively little to do (note that Boston is ~2 hrs drive away). Overall, however, there are really amazing people at WHOI doing impressive work. As with any institute, however, not everyone is great to work with, so you will need to consider who will be your immediate collaborators/supervisors, as this can make a huge difference in your experience working at WHOI.

I've had the opportunity to work for many organizations both large and small, for and not-for profit and all in between. 

Work, career, call it what you will is a major part of your life and, discovering the balance means the differnce between a good day and a bad one. 

My expierence with WHOI has been overwhelmingly positive. Not that it's perfect but, the people who work and stay here are a cultural set that is a great fit for me. There's a lot of collaboration, good spirit, and the overarching reality that being a WHOI employee means you're part of something huge. What WHOI does is important and, if your not a team player or, seriously into greater good, it may not be a good fit. 
But, if team player, communication, greater good appeals to you, this may be the place you've beee looking for.

HR has had turnover after turnover. How can you trust a company that can't even manage their Human Resource Department?
They went from one ineffective Director to a Director that is reactionary, impatient, controlling, and is letting intelligent and highly competent employees walk out the door earlier than they wanted to or because they just didn't seem to matter anymore.
The community has to work with the HR office and that department should show proper structure that trickles down to the entire Institution.
More employees need to speak up and be involved in such a high level hire, and maybe their supervisor should be looked at more and understand their management style or lack of.

A day to day experience can vary widely depending on the lab/PI you with for. The overall culture has become much more understanding and diverse with regards to demographics, mental health and healthy work/life balance, but you can expect individual labs to vary greatly. PIs can hold antiquated ideals and expect backbreaking 16+ hour workdays or have "opinions" about research topics and groups of people. Lunch hour is neutral ground, usually you can vent and hear about work environments in other labs here. It's a place to ask if what you're going through is normal or healthy.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) used to be an amazing place to work and depending on where you work in the organization could make all the difference in your own experience.  

The HR department has suffered much attrition under the current director.  The IT department has also lost many valuable employees due to poor management and   poor working conditions.  

I still have many close relationships with people at WHOI and I’m told that they are struggling to fill certain positions due to qualifications.  When qualified applicants are hired, most realized what a dumpster fire the place is and often walk off the job or quickly move to much greener pastures.

WHOI can be a wonderful place to work l depending on the department. For the most part, it is a challenging environment where one can learn new skills and hone already established skills. The biggest issue for me was the fact that in some departments, subtle racism, homophobia, ableism and sexism exist and are tolerated. This is not WHOI, as a whole, but parts of it. The environment can often be hostile.
This is most notable in WHOI's Marine Operations area. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
intellectual stimulation; contributing to the advancement of the knowledge or our oceans

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I did not feel any stress. I do not have any more to add to that.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
supportive, I had the opportunity for advancement

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I worked on the research ships -- so a typical day was to stand watch and to assist the scientists in the deployment of their instruments

What is the best part of working at the company?
The captains and everyone in HR. I felt like family!!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The consistency if not able to travel 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
You meet different people from all over the country. Scientists and engineers.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
On the Atlantis ship, it starts off with energy, momentum , and motivation! I’ve never had this experience in the workplace!!

Phenomenal benefits, flexible scheduling and lack of pressing danger give this job high marks in regards to employment. The workplace/institution culture is fantastically pleasant and everyone is very kind. The hardest part of the job can be the physical demands i.e. walking 4+ miles per shift and sometimes more. The typical day at work requires two round checks of each building at the campus you are assigned to for damage, malfunction, safety/security violation or trespass.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Investigator 10 salaries reported	$70,973 per year
Rv technician 10 salaries reported	$39.44 per hour
Senior research assistant 4 salaries reported	$26.86 per hour
Postdoctoral researcher 3 salaries reported	$57,667 per year
Engineer 4 salaries reported	$79,000 per year

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