Pros
Please note - all departments are very different, but these are some general trends: - job security - generally a very good work-life balance - beautiful campus - excellent pension and benefits (does help compensate for low pay) - free health and wellness programs & discounted public transportation passes - excellent food on campus - all managers are quite different across departments, but mine were great people and very supportive of our team
Cons
- job security means lazy and dead-weight employees can't be fired after 6 month probation period. VERY frustrating. I recommend managers make good use of letting employees go before the 6 month period if they are incompetent. - job security means many campus employees have a very "public sector" mentality about their job ("that's not my job", unwilling to stay late, etc). - UCLA has a policy that your salary cannot increase more than 15%, even for a significant promotion, without a special exception from the Vice Chancellor (rare). This means that outside candidates can command higher salaries than internal promotions, just based on this rule. You have to leave the university and then come back if you want a significant raise. For this reason, I would NOT recommend a long career at UCLA if you start as an entry level employee.