Argonne National Laboratory Employer Reviews

worked there 38years. No day was typical. hardest part of my job was getting to work. most enjoyable part of my job was the travel.

Not far from Chicago. Learned a lot regarding research methods.

I worked here for about 3 months. I felt very included in all activities. I learned a lot and everyone was very helpful.

I joined Argonne laboratory at the wake of "Tiger Team" visit. My coworkers and I launched an interesting Environment, Safety and health/Quality Assurance program. Many glaring issues were solved. However, within five years, the QA program was eliminated and I started with control system development team while the new Advanced Photon Source, a powerful – more... synchronous accelerator was being commissioned. I was fascination by every aspect of these mega-projects.I enjoyed the quality of life provided by the Laboratory although salary raises were not very competitive to the open market. Like Fermilab, job security is not what it used to be in the past. I left my software engineering job on my own to work as a Project Manager at Fermilab when a significant opportunity came up at Fermilab. – less

Unclear objectives and budgetary cuts negatively impact this interesting opportunity.

assist in installation of telephone system. installation of telephone system. management was supportive. co-workers were transient workers and very pleasant to work with. hardest thing was knowing job was finished once system was installed. most enjoyable was meeting people from many parts of rural usa

On the positive side: lot of equipment, significant infrastructures and financing for research. Several scientists from all the world, good access to libraries and papers.
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I like the academic atmosphere very much. strongly recommend!

Tackle projects for the APS team. Learned how to program in Python, worked on LDAP and Apache web server migration projects. The hardest part of the job was to figure out the requirements and to make the migration process in stages. The most rewarding part of it was to deliver results and a very stable system.

excellent place to work; great environment and learning opportunity; all good things but funding often unstable

Fun place to work. Need security clearance. Good place to learn.

Worked with the Department of Energy, great experience, awesome co-workers. Onsite housing, restaurants, workout facitlities and outdoor trails through a forest preserve which surrounds the campus.

Must be scientific minded, not an easy place to adapt to. Once you are use to working there and its environment, it becomes difficult to work any other place. In all levels of administration that I worked in was stressful. The typical day is filled with a lot of work demands and meeting deadlines. The average person would need to know that staying longer – more... to complete these deadlines are typical. There is no such thing as excuses for not fulfilling your work load.

The best part of working there is the vacation time. They give you a lot of vacation time to accrual, plus they are closed between Christmas and New Years. This is the perfect time to go away somewhere that is hot. Sun, sand and tropical drinks!

Work and life balance isn't easy for a non-exempt position. However, if you are exempt its a piece of cake. – less

Not so great for support staff. There is a lack of appreciate and promotional opportunities. I am a support engineer.

During the more than 25 years of employment, I held numerous administrative positions. I learned many things: computer software applications, a variety of office machine operations, patience, customer service skills to name a few. Co-workers were varied in both cultural background and education. The hardest part of the job was surviving the "government – more... red tape" as it relates to reporting and documentation. I loved learning about all of the magnificent discoveries made there. – less

good interaction with researchers from other field;
easy access to research resource

Your experience at Argonne will depend on which division you are in because each one is managed somewhat independently.

It was a summer research opportunity job. It was the job that sparked my love for research. It was a school and work program. Since then I have been involved in other research opportunities.

I was given hands on experience with technology many geeks can only dream of. The interns added many extra hands on the job than the sysetm administrators had themselves. I was glad to be take part in it.

Best possible internship. I learned more in a year and a half working on complex, real-world problems than I did in my undergrad studies.