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Stanford University

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The university within the university. - Anonymous employee Stanford University Employee Review

1.0
Sep 19, 2009
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You help to educate about 40,000 K-7 students in Mathmatics. Many of the older employees care very much about this and have become quite qualified over the years. They're "true believers" in education, and if you're one too, you'll have plenty of friends. Central Stanford has good benefits, organization, and training oppourtunities. Thanks to a brilliant head of programming, the technologies running the software that students and teachers use is quite sophisticated. It's a good place to learn many technologies if you're an engineer, though you'll have to deal with a lot of legacy.

Cons

Salaries are only about 60% of what similar positions are payed within other departments of the university. Salaries are dramatically low, which leads to high turnover and an inability to fill desperately needed positions, often for half a year or more, since almost no one is willing to work for so little. Often offices and promotions that properly belong with more far more experienced people who have been at the company for many years are lost as perks to attract people into new positions. A middle-management layer was recently introduced as the group got larger, however these were a mixed bag mostly from much larger companies and most of their styles clash badly with the software / process we actually have. Differing opinions of how to proceed on projects were hard enough to reconcile years ago, and the clash has exacerbated that. There's definitely a lot of cultural shear as the older academics and engineers are being displaced and driven away by generic non-technical business people. The software and processes have a technical complexity at this point that's beyond the technical understanding of the head of the organization, almost all of the middle management, and about two-thirds of the ground-level employees.

Explore other reviews about Stanford University

5.0
Jul 2, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people, resources and leadership

Cons

No cons it’s a great place to work

4.0
Jun 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Overall, Stanford is an amazing place to work. The environment and benefits can't be beat. You can go for a swim on your lunch break or a walk around the lake. The recreational classes and opportunities are usually great. Eating at the dining hall, although pricy, is a real treat.

Cons

If you're not senior management, faculty, development, etc., Stanford's pay has not kept up with the cost of living in the area. If you come for a job from outside of California, be prepared for a real shock when you see the kinds of rentals and the prices. Beauty has a price. You will not be able to live near campus as the average employee. Unless you're really familiar with the traffic in California, don't look at places that you think are an hour away, because they'll be two hours away by car. And you'll have to pay to park on campus, so not driving at all is your best option. Many administrative jobs are held by partners of people working in tech or faculty, because that's the only way you can afford to live there. If you don't have a partner making $200K+, you'll be taking the train or bus for an hour. If you're thinking about buying a house and you don't have a suitcase of cash, that sound you're hearing is my laughter. It's also important to realize that the working conditions across campus vary by unit. Working at the Graduate School of Business will seem more like a corporate job; working in Medicine could be brutal; and the treatment you will get can vary by department.

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