Must avoid for post-docs - Post Doctoral Research Associate Fermilab Employee Review

2.0
Nov 14, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are some great people here and exiting projects.

Cons

Plagued with mismanagement and a deeply rooted "cronyism" culture, today's Fermilab reached a new low point in employee satisfaction and governmental inefficiency. It became a machine that grinds through post-docs and spit them out to the street to survive. Fermilab doesn't offer any career path for their post-docs unless you are in the know and one of the cronies of someone higher up. Without question, every entry level scientist/physicist position has "a candidate in mind" and other candidates are only interviewed to maintain the facade and meet legal hiring requirements. In layman terms, unless you know someone, how hard you worked or your accomplishments will not matter at the end of the day for any hiring decision. This is also infuriating because most of the employees do barely any work, projects are carried by few dedicated people. All of this is mostly true for other labs too, this means in practice they also tend to hire their own cronies so if you couldn't get a position in your own coop, you have little chance elsewhere. But don't take my word for it, please search for "Fermilab whistleblower report arxiv" and draw your own conclusions. My advice to you, dear science-loving newly appointed post-doc fellow, is the following; If you do not get a permanent position within three years, just move on and don't lose time here. Instead work on something that could get you your next job.

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5.0
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Pros

best working environment I have ever worked

Cons

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2.0
Apr 30, 2026
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Pros

It is a place with strong potential, good technical infrastructure, and a beautiful natural setting. It offers a diverse mix of people and professions, and it typically provides more stability and flexibility than industry, along with a fair salary.

Cons

Professionals outside the physics discipline are often not given full recognition as subject-matter experts in their own fields and are frequently overridden by individuals in senior or privileged positions. In many cases, decisions are driven more by influence, convenience, or personal preference than by operational needs or technical best practices. As a result, non-physicist professionals may be relegated to routine or less desirable tasks, while higher-visibility projects and decision-making responsibilities are concentrated elsewhere. Basicaly non-physicist professionals are hired to support or maintain systems that were implemented without sufficient planning or domain expertise, leaving significant room for improvement. This dynamic can lead to underutilization of specialized talent, reduced efficiency, operational challenges, frustration among staff, and, over time, burnout. Definitively not a good place to work for non-physicist professionals. NOTE: The actual CEO is Norbert Holtkamp

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