postdoctoral associate

research scientist

research assistant

postdoctoral fellow

postdoctoral research associate

Yale University

Yale University is a great place to work security. The training is the most in depth I’ve experienced and I’ve worked several security and emergency medical services positions. There is plenty of overtime and the pay is great for the work. The benefits are also something you’ll struggle to find elsewhere, with super affordable healthcare and a pretty decent retirement plan if you turn it into a career. However, there is room for improvement with management. Managers are usually nowhere to be found and don’t respond to emergency calls. While they aren’t technically required to respond to emergency calls based on policy it would be nice to see them do so at least sometimes. They usually don’t even do post checks which they are supposed to do based on policy. Some managers will target employees over minor things so it’s best to try and maintain a good relationship with management. The university also is going through an identity crisis. They can’t decide if they want to take public safety seriously or not. They gave security a lot of responsibilities that used to be handled by the Yale Police Department. For example they have security officers responding to noise complaints and reports of intoxicated students. The reason for this is students, staff and faculty often complained about the presence of uniformed/armed police at these calls. I think this is understandable given the current climate regarding policing. However, they did not give security officers any additional training or authority to deal with these situations which can make things difficult. If it wasn’t for my background as an Emergency Medical Technician, I could have run into some potentially life threatening problems dealing with intoxicated students. There is also very little flexibility regarding scheduling. The schedule is based on a bid system that runs off of seniority and so you are stuck with whatever shift and days you get once you finish training until you can bid for a different shift. Shifts usually only open when an officer leaves or a new post is created which can take years, not to mention once a post becomes open, as a new officer you will likely be outbid. If you can plan your life around work, this isn’t an issue, but be careful if you’req trying to go to college while working or have other unpredictable responsibilities. It is a union position, but the union isn’t too great. They rarely have union meetings and a lot of officers allege there is a lot of corruption going on within the union. There is no real way to see where union dues are going or being spent even when requests for this information are given. A younger officer ran against the current union president and the union board resulted to slandering that officers name to make sure they had no competition. Despite all of this, I would recommend working security at Yale University. The department is structured very similar to a police department and is way better than most contract security in my opinion. I would especially recommend working here to those with future aspirations to work in law enforcement or similar fields. The education benefits can also be used to get a degree if you can make the scheduling work. 

I already had a job and was in school full time.  I didn’t want this job.  In fact, I didn’t even apply for it.  Unbeknownst to me, one of my teachers submitted my resume for a position they had open.  One day I got a phone call from someone at Yale asking me about my resume and when I could come in for an interview.  I didn’t even know what he was talking about.  This is probably the only time I went to an interview not even trying to get the job because I already had too much on my plate.  About a month passed by after the interview and I figured I was in the clear from that job.  Nope.  They called me with a job offer and I begrudgingly took it.

Basically they hired me because they didn’t want to pay someone from Johnson Controls a lot more money to do the job.  I had to learn how to use Johnson Control’s propriety software with no books, no user guides, phone numbers, or anything else that could be of any help.  No one else working there knew how to use the program either.  My job was to create real time graphics of the HVAC units in a lot of the buildings using their software.  It had to collect readings from sensors located in various buildings throughout the campus for data like air flow rates, temperatures and etc.  Just learning how to use their software was a daunting task in itself, but integrating it to collect data from various sources throughout the campus and depicting it graphically in real time put me at near wits end.  I had no HVAC or graphics design experience.

In two years of near maddening trial and error I figured out how to do what they had wanted.  You could click on a building and it would pull up a graphical depiction of what the HVAC system looked like in that building.  I had toggle buttons to do things like turn fans off or close dampers.  If the fan was on, it actually showed to be spinning on the screen.  If you turned it off the fan stopped spinning.  I also had boxes that displayed any available data from that unit in real time.  If something went out of normal range a red alarm went off next to it to let you know.  I cannot express in this review just how tedious and frustrating it was to learn how to do all that not knowing a single thing going in.  I still to this day wonder if they use all those graphics that took me two years to create.

A typical day at work includes a lot of multitasking since my position requires participation in several projects, supervising junior lab members and a senior lab manager responsibility. I learned how to effectively use my time, teach and supervise others, apply totally new methods into every day lab life and troubleshoot them. My management skills improved drastically since I have broad responsibilities to be sure everything works. For example, during a Christmas break I was able to restore failed incubators within 2 days without any valuable cells lost. Good working team in Pulmonary and Critical Care Branch helped me to arrange cells move to another facility, good relationship with Alert Scientific team allowed bringing a tech on the next day despite of being very busy. All this action was performed without any of my colleagues coming to work and interrupting their Christmas vacation time. All PIs were receiving updates on the situation and also did not have to be involved. The hardest part of work is to hear when another PI has to close the lab and lay off all personal because of insufficient or the lack of funding. The most enjoyable part is coming every day to work to be full of ideas, plan another experiment and being rewarded with good data that would help to understand and potentially cure certain disorders.

I worked for the school of medicine. The benefits are amazing, you pay almost nothing for great health care and they have a lot of options for dental/vision/life insurance/retirement that are affordable. My coworkers and direct managers were great, I learned so much from them and enjoyed the relaxed but hardworking environment we had. However, the business office/union/HR is where Yale fails in my opinion. The people in charges of finances for our lab do not understand what we do (and will not communicate), and therefore cannot make us successful. I would suggest negotiating a good wage from the start - because it's hard to get a job audit and raise approved (Note- Union does their best to get you a small raise every year though). Around Yale It's common knowledge NOT to contact the union or HR though because it makes things worse - they can be biased and play favorites, will not respect your confidentiality, and will ruin your reputation if you fight with them. I should note that each department seems to be different though - some departments have no drama and others are a mess. Try to get a feel for the department by talking to multiple employees before agreeing to a job.

Working for Yale University has been enjoyable. The pay is decent for the work and there are opportunities to move up or to different areas that may be of interest. The benefits are the best part of the job and I doubt many other employers in the area offer better. There are plenty of overtime opportunities available in many of the non-academic departments. The management is pretty good and in my experience treat employees fairly. Management will also do their best to accommodate employees needs and requests. The biggest drawback of working at the university is the lack of consideration when it comes to employee suggestions. Despite all the good qualities Yale has, the university is lacking in many areas. When these things are brought to the attention of leadership, they area often ignored or dismissed. The university seems to take the approach of reacting rather than being proactive in many situations. Every decision comes down to a cost benefit analysis even when safety is at risk. If the university realized that often times those who are actually doing the work, know ways to improve upon it and valued their suggestions rather than making every decision based on finances it would be a much better place to work. However I would still recommend applying to work at Yale University as it has overall been a positive experience.    

Responsibilities:

•	Planning and estimation of the developing and deployment times.
•	Involved in the production of the Architectural design
•	Participated in the developing of Software and enhancements
•	Participated in the research of the physical capabilities of displays and video cards.
•	Use of WPF performance kit to verify that the rendering tread did sync up with the flat panel´s refresh ratio.
•	Participated in the Achievement of 10 ms screen refresh in 120 hz flat panel
•	Participated in the design, development and deployment of SQL database.
•	Worked closely with SOAP UI for external and internal services to get valid Requests and Responses.
•	Involved in streamlining the migration process; refining the processes such as Custom Build and Custom release. 
•	Experience in client interactions, coordination and deployment.
•	Involved in Architecture design and code review.		
•	Acted as liaison between management and development team for Requirements and QA.
•	Advanced knowledge with designer tools such as Microsoft Visio.
•	Effective in working independently and collaboratively in teams.


Get to work, pay to park (unfortuantely) but you can always park on the street but risk getting tickets. Start my shift by relieving the shift working before me, and log into all our programs we use to dispatch for public safety security. We work consistent schedules which is alittle rough in terms of making plans outside of work when your days off might not align with loved ones. While at work though the environment is pretty chill and comes with alot of perks such as sick leave, vacation days, and paid holidays. The management is getting better slowly, but surely and there is alot of high hopes for the future of the position as there will be a new dispatch center opening in the near future. Yale is a great place to gain experience and grow into bigger better things or a place to start a second career. Our union is sub par however taking $13 a week from our checks for dues. The union protects sub par employees who  make mistakes and should no longer be employed in this critical role. Be prepared for working inside a dispatch center that is well paid, kept busy, and constantly moving. No two shifts are the same. Dispite the cons i mentioned I still love working here.   

A typical workday would consist of checking phone and email messages for possible participants. Making follow-up phone calls and scheduling qualified subjects for appointment to take part in ongoing studies. Seeing participants with appointments and conducting  procedures for studies. Some participants were also recruited from practice. Therefore, those participants varied on a day to day basis. Some workdays were also spent training or supervising interns. However, this was based on who was interning at the time. Supervision was given to students on protocols for studies that was being conducted. 
The manangement team were very supportive. In fact, there were regular scheduled meetings that were conducted to assist with feedback and any other concerns for ongoing research as well as concerns with staff.
The hardest part of the job was not knowing exactly how each day would consist of. Due to the manner in which patients were recruited, schedules varied almost everyday. However, it made each day interesting. Most of all the job was enjoyable because I enjoyed meeting new people. Therefore each time a new intern was introduced that needed training, I found it very fulfilling to pass on some of the knowledge that I had gain.

So…if you have a position at Yale as a professor/educator, health professional, or mid-upper level management or administrative duties you will have a nice cushy job with benefits.

If you are an intern or temporary employee (even if its  NOT actually temporary or part time, just listed as such), you will have zero benefits. No PTO, no vacation/sick leave, no insurance benefits of any kind, and little to no room for advancement. Pay is bare minimum. I’m talking minimum wage or very close to it. 

Overtime heavily discouraged, but even in the rare case it’s heavily needed, you could work 50 hours for two months but you still receive no benefits. 

All that said and done, the people in your immediate department/work space are likely to be friendly and cooperative. The low level managers are friendly and will work with you, but likely the upper level management will be completely detached from whatever is happening on the ground. 

Overall or tl;dr 

If you need something to do while in school or in between jobs it might temporarily fit the role. However, you will not advance any further and your work goes from 0-200 depending on the day with zero benefits. 

Yale University is a wonderful place to work, with wonderful people to work with. I am always learning new things, and there is a great deal of teamwork throughout our department. The benefits leave nothing to be desired, and the supervisors/managers treat me with patience and respect.
On an average day I would begin with doing my animal husbandry assignment, then move on to my area lead tasks. I have learned much from my time at Yale, teamwork, prioritizing responsibilities, and computer skills not being the least . My co-workers and I work well together, and foster an attitude of understanding and we work to achieve common goals. 
The hardest part about my job is fitting the needs of everyone (i.e. the Primary Investigators, the post doctoral students, the managers/supervisors, and the business office) into one day in a timely, efficient manner. The challenge can be trying at times, but I find it interesting and it helps to keep me on my toes, and it has taught me how to be flexible.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Postdoctoral associate 23 salaries reported	$60,775 per year
Research scientist 5 salaries reported	$75,400 per year
Research assistant 15 salaries reported	$48,700 per year
Postdoctoral fellow 5 salaries reported	$68,800 per year
Postdoctoral research associate 8 salaries reported	$64,470 per year

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