Great Employee, well worth looking for jobs (University of East Anglia)

Member Name: mrbigbar7

Product:	University of East Anglia
Date:	23/01/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great location, on site facilities good, good career progression, final salary pension.

Disadvantages: Pay for lower end jobs is not too good, parking a bit of a problem

The University of East Anglia (UEA) is located on the outskirts of Norwich, East Anglia. The campus is set on the site of a former public golf course. The campus consists of a number of teaching buildings as well as public parks, woods and its own lake. UEA has lots of good points for potential employees as well as a couple of bad points.

Bad Points:
The salaries for staff at lower end jobs such as basic admin staff and cleaning staff isn't very good, and even though living in East Anglia is cheaper than living else where in the country it could still prove to be difficult with the salary.

Parking tends to be a problem as well there isn't enough parking space for staff and students. The University has made progress by prioritising staff parking and moving student parking off site where possible, but with the construction of more buildings and campus improvements, the need for staff parking is rising when the spaces available are decreasing. To get parked you really need to arrive around 8.30 to be certain of getting a space. This may not be practical for those with children who are doing the school run. There is also a parking charge during term time (approx 6months a year) of £1 a day or 50p for half a day. This has been set up to automatically come out of your pay packet every month before it reaches you.

The University is being modernised and new building being built are modern in design and structure but the main teaching buildings tend to be large blocks of concrete which are not aesthetically pleasing. However this ugliness is counteracted by walking to the other sides of the building and seeing the fields, woods and lakes but it does leave a bad first impression unless you explore a bit.

With an on site box office for concerts and comedy gigs held both on campus and in Norwich I thought staff would be entitled to a staff discount even if it was only £1 but they don't have a discount scheme in place which means you will have to queue up and get your tickets like everyone else unfortunately.

Good Points:
The UEA campus is located just to the south of Norwich and a 5 minute drive from A11 and A47 dual carriageways. This will allow you to commute quite easily as traffic although a bit slow at peak times is nowhere near as bad as other parts of the city and country.

As well as having all of the teaching building on site and various student buildings including a really good cheap bar, there is a parade of shops that allow you to carry out any bits and pieces that you would need to do but normally would be able to, such as going to the post office. There are 2 banks on sight, a Waterstones book shop, 3 food restaurants/ café's all of which do good value food, catering for a wide range of tastes, a Post Office, a small Supermarket and a newsagent.

Even though the pay for lower end jobs isn't brilliant, the pay for higher end jobs is very good indeed. As East Anglia is a cheap part of the country to live in getting good wages goes a long way towards leading an almost luxurious life!

One of the strong points about working at UEA is that there is a constant supply of new jobs coming up that current employee's get first refusal for. There is a real desire for career progression as well and people always want you to push yourself and do better.

Overall I didn't know what to expect working at a University but I was really surprised how friendly everyone was and how enthusiastic fellow employee's were. Particularly with research staff and lecturers the staff people are involved in their areas of interest so they seem to be very enthusiastic about their work and well motivated.

Summary: UEA is a great employer, well worth looking for jobs if your area of interest is covered.