Such a great place to work, travelling by bus is something that took a while but it was worth it. All of the staff I was with, were super encouraging and fun. We made a lot of jokes to pass the time while we worked. I just loved this place so much. The breaks were pretty fair and we were allowed as many drinks, including coffee and juice as we wanted.

Pros

Free drinks including coffee

Cons

Students

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A great university, but not a great career choice

Postdoctoral Fellow (Former Employee) - Ontario - 10 January 2022

I worked as a postdoc here. Postdocs in Canada are underpaid and U Waterloo is no exception. Limited benefits and no job security, no one apart from your supervisor is even aware of your existence

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Good pay but your treated like just another number.

Plant Ops (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 22 December 2021

I have worked here for over 4 years and enjoyed it until the vaccine mandate started. The whole process is a joke and has made me realize all they are concerned about if the financial bottom line. We are just numbers and are easily replaceable.

Pros

Pay and pension

Cons

Treated like you don't matter.

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Expect to be overworked

Teaching Assistant (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 28 November 2021

They will push you with more and more work even when you tell them you can't handle this much. They also don't pay enough to live on this area unless you live with 18 roommates, eat cardboard from the dumpster and don't plan on spending any other money

Pros

Its got a good reputation

Cons

It is not worth the effort to go here

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Unorganized

Residence Attendant (Current Employee) - Waterloo, Ontario - 4 November 2021

Unorganized, unprofessional and they seem to hire friends and family of other employees mostly. They increase workload and hours but don't offer to pay more. They discriminate against certain groups of individuals as well.

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FUN filled place with so much of energy

Team Member (Current Employee) - Brubakers - 1 November 2021

The most enjoyable part of the job is freedom , peace at work , meals , walkable distance for me. , I love the way senior staffs react with juniors all fun filled environment

Pros

Free meal, Good environment

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Excellent place to work, especially for international students to learn life building skills

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 21 October 2021

Excellent place to work and gain experience in life building skills. I thought research is a two-way experience where the mentor and the student learn together, share their ideas, and create novel work. From my previous work experiences, I have worked with teams where they share ideas, know the strength and weaknesses of a colleague and support each other. But here, you work alone without much support from mentors or colleagues. You don't even know what is going on within your team. I had won several prestigious research grants, and awards, presented at conferences, and made publications in many peer-reviewed journals in my prior institutes. Unfortunately, the department at the university of waterloo where I worked doesn't promote your ideas or talents, and doesn't provide growth opportunities. The supervisors are terrible; they don't know how to manage projects. I will never recommend an international research student to work here. A lot of promises will be given during the interview but none would be kept. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are only on the advertisements to attract international students.

Pros

You will learn patience, In research you would learn a lot on your own without help from anyone, You would seriously think about life and having a solid job no matter what type of job it is, You would definitely think of giving up the research profession.

Cons

No teamwork: you do not know what others in the same team are doing, No career support career advancement nor any motivation from the mentors, No appreciation or respect for what you have done nor any understanding of the task involved, Expects you to complete a five-year project within a year, They don't know how to manage the work no clear ideas - goals or timelines, No right to question the mentor's work nor his students, Won't be willing to accept your ideas Will insist on what they think is right, Won't support your application for jobs, Harsh deadlines: You will receive an email just hours before the closing time for abstracts, No feedback on the draft material written for publication nor any participation. They just ignore u

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great work environment overall

Financial / Admin Assistant, Co-operative Education (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 18 May 2021

every day was different although you knew you had to finish stuff from the previous day before starting the current days work. At the end of the day, whatever wasnt done, could sit on your desk until the next day.Many coworkers were happy to help you finish something and you had no hesitation in offering to help them.

Pros

everything

Cons

pay for parking

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Great learning experience

Research Assistant (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 20 March 2021

I learned how to properly do literature searches and write research reports. I felt like my work really had an impact on the field. A very independent position but my supervisor was extremely helpful when needed.

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Liked the employees - the pace was a little slow vs other companies

Project Manager (Contract) (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 29 December 2020

The University was a great place to work with - the pace was a little slow. The workplace culture was very friendly and ready to help when asked. Lots of 1-hour meetings to understand what other groups are working on.

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Worked in cleaning

Cleaner/Janitor (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 17 December 2020

It’s a great company most of all staff are great only issues is some of the people that work in the cleaning department who have been there forever don’t really do their job and don’t treat you fair So my advice is if they talk bad about the staff or other people avoid don’t listen to them and do your job It’s a great company as long as you don’t get caught up in the drama The work is amazing and the students and teachers are very friendly A

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Ample opportunity to gain Teaching Assistant experience

TEACHING ASSISTANT, KINESIOLOGY DEPARTMENT (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 18 September 2020

My department has many opportunities for graduate students to be teaching assistants and work with undergraduate students in a variety of courses. Professors are wonderful to collaborate with and value your work as a teaching assistant.

Pros

Lots of opportunity for collaboration

Cons

Workload differs greatly between courses

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Work culture is negative

Plant Operations (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 14 September 2020

As far as Plant Operations is concerned, unless you have a Trade certificate there is no way to advance yourself. Very slow paced. No accountability. Working hard is frowned upon, along with presenting new ideas to management.No vision care benefits even though school of optometry.

Pros

Pension, benefits, sick leave, time off

Cons

Work environment, communication

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Food service

Food Service Worker (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 14 July 2020

I only worked there part time, but if they paid more money for the food services i would of stayed . The people there were very friendly and manager and supervisor were very accommodate to your availability.

Pros

Friendly, benefits good.

Cons

Pay

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Great place.

Research Project (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 23 June 2020

Willing to work with what I have going on in my personal life. Always making sure I am doing okay, and checking in with me, how work is going and my work related comments.

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More than meets the eye

Video Assistant (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 15 June 2020

The people at Waterloo are great however the process and how things are done I can't really say the same. The culture is one that in my opinion is very pretentious, decision makers in the faculty need to take a deep reflection within and evaluate the climate of their working culture at the school.

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It was a good place to work

Assistant Coach (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 15 June 2020

great place to work, good people and culture. I would work there again if given a chance. Good leadership and staff. offices were clean and lots of support from leadership.

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relaxed and fun work environment

Game Day Staff (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 4 June 2020

depending on your role, could be fast paced with lots to pay attention to, or could be boring on your own schedule. friendly environment with great staff

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Fun place to work, Fast-paced

EVENTS AND PROMOTION INTERN (Former Employee) - Athletics - 4 June 2020

We would have meetings each week, determine what to do for each varsity game, attend games and make sure the fan experience was top notch. It was fun to collaborate with others.

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It is a perfect workplace for students

Store Front (Former Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 31 May 2020

As a student, I was able to fit in my work schedule with school. They always provide flexibility and it is important to have as a student. Furthermore, the management is by far the best I've ever worked for. They are extremely invested in making sure students' experiences are enhanced.

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Productive and fast-pase

food service in residence (Current Employee) - Waterloo, ON - 30 May 2020

I work at different food stations such as at Bar burrito, Booster Juice, Pizza, and a grill and steam station. I also work at the cashier and some times at back work too.

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