City of Seattle
City of Seattle Employee Reviews
Overall rating
Based on 124 reviews
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Union Job
Customer Service Representative (Current Employee) – Seattle, WA – June 13, 2018
Belonged to local 17 as a city employee. Contract is structured with the union so pay increases is based on the hours worked. My work week is usually 4 days and the average is 21 hours a week. Being part time I can be called to work at one of 6 locations and work schedule can change daily,
Pros
Great benefits
Cons
Cost of living in Seattle
Complicated work inviorment
Audio/Video Project Manager (Current Employee) – Seattle, WA – June 4, 2018
Before the last 6 months I would have taken this questionnaire an been a little more positive. Since being moved to work in a consolidated group I have found that everything has gone down hill. The problem that I see is there is fear and no sense of direction from leadership.
Pros
Good benifits
Cons
Lack in direction from managment
My job at the city of seattle was so great i learned so much
Customer Service Representative (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – May 31, 2018
Loved working for the Seattle parks and recreation was a great experience I learned so much and was able to accomplish many goals it was a training program that I was able to obtain things like my flagging certificate along with my CPR certificate overall it was a great experience
fails to acknowledge employees' worth and encourage advancement
Utility Account Representative (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – May 29, 2018
A typical day at work would involve micromanagement of employees whose work time is scrutinized over phrases said or not said to the customer without regard to the needs of the customers and the thoroughness of the problem/concern with regard to the phone call. Employees ratings are based on timeliness and key words/phrases/credentials graded during the course of the call. Long waits and poor knowledge base from employees cause customers to call back multiple times, sometimes 5 or more to take care of the same problem. Customers who don't understand the process are seen as troublemakers and often hung up on are not properly helped.
Pros
pay, benefits
Cons
micromanagement, career growth
Mixed Feelings
Account Tech II/Cashier (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – May 21, 2018
I gave everything to my job and got nothing in return. My time there was very stressful, and as long as you bent over backwards and did EVERYTHING your boss told you too, you were secure. The people I worked with were FAKE! Saying they had my back in times of trouble, and then when trouble came up - They ran. Threw me under the bus after all I have done - I cannot say this for everyone though. There are a handful of coworkers who were sincere - These are the people I still contact with today and are actually happy to provide reference for me and all the hard work I have done (without complaint I might add).
Pros
Steady paycheck with awesome benefits
Cons
Backstabbing coworkers who only look out for their best interest
A focused work environment with understood outcomes
Nightlife Premises Coordinator (Former Employee) – City of Seattle, WA – May 17, 2018
My work at the City of Seattle was almost unique in that I managed both the nightlife industry in Seattle while also managing 13 staff whose role was to return to the City unpaid gross receipts taxes and other duties.
Pros
good benefits
Cons
No set hours of work in my instance
Great place to work!
Water Technician (Current Employee) – Seattle, WA – April 30, 2018
Great benefits, competitive pay and opportunity for advancement. Team environment and plenty of training opportunities for those who are willing to work and learn to advance to the next levels of their careers.
Entry Level
Court Clerk Supervisor (Current Employee) – Seattle, WA – April 29, 2018
Entry level is a good start working at Seattle Municipal Court. However, if you want to grow professionally into management, seek employment with another courthouse.
Pros
Great benefits
Cons
No internal professional growth opportunities
Avoid IT department
Telecommunications Systems Analyst (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – April 15, 2018
Very poor management. Bullying comes to mind as a description of the overall management environment. Although a transition is taking place, a lot of engrained ideals still exists, and hopefully it will improve. The job itself was fantastic. Managerial staff and style (with poor oversight) along the lines of extreme micromanaging make it a difficult environment to work in.
city of seattle culture
HUMAN RESOURCES ASSISTANT (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – April 3, 2018
interesting work culture people from all walks of life contributing to the communities within city of seattle people have a passion for healthy families and helping people succeed
Great job, incompetent management
Paramedic / Firefighter (Former Employee) – City of Seattle, WA – March 22, 2018
How do you take a great job and make it less than desirable? Simply add managers for political reasons irrespective of any education or demonstrable ability to manage a large organization. Quite simply this is a recipe for creating bullies which is exactly what the SFD has done with its upper management. No education, not held accountable, protected by city attorneys, not fired for poor decisions, all of this empowers the incompetent. In the end they have no reason to believe that they are ever wrong, which allows them to ignore the organizations rules.
Pros
Great pay, benefits
Cons
Really bad upper management
A dead end unless you want to be a mindless drone
Senior Technical Writer (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – March 18, 2018
Being the only technical writer in the City was a joke. Management doesnt get content management, and its pretty evident once you navigate the intranet sites - Content dating back to 2006, no SEO whatsoever, very immature business processes.
Ambition is tempered with most of the full timers touting "what do you expect? Its the government....." Projects are often stalled because many of the army of program managers are clueless, cant deal with ambiguity, and the social pecking order ended up feeling a bit like high school. You can have zero experience and get hired by an insider who favors scoring a full time gig complete with managers who never put anything in email; managers who have so many acronyms in their email signature your kinda left with the feeling of being around someone who thinks they are important but couldnt manage their self let alone other people.
The open cubicle atmosphere is counter productive to accomplishing much as there are too many full timers who think their on stage and all of us cube dwellers should stop and take notice. So annoying that I often found myself searching for quiet spaces where I could concentrate without having some loud mouth break the contractual obligation to be respectful of others.
Ambition is tempered with most of the full timers touting "what do you expect? Its the government....." Projects are often stalled because many of the army of program managers are clueless, cant deal with ambiguity, and the social pecking order ended up feeling a bit like high school. You can have zero experience and get hired by an insider who favors scoring a full time gig complete with managers who never put anything in email; managers who have so many acronyms in their email signature your kinda left with the feeling of being around someone who thinks they are important but couldnt manage their self let alone other people.
The open cubicle atmosphere is counter productive to accomplishing much as there are too many full timers who think their on stage and all of us cube dwellers should stop and take notice. So annoying that I often found myself searching for quiet spaces where I could concentrate without having some loud mouth break the contractual obligation to be respectful of others.
Pros
Paid time off. Met some great people.
Cons
Clueless management; vindictive do nothings; Zero creativity. Boring people; dead end tasks
customer service
Burein (Current Employee) – Burein – March 16, 2018
i like being im the customer service field. meeting and helping oyhers with their needs pleases me. im new to washington so this job was an assett........................................
Pros
new people
Cons
long hours
Recreation Division
Recreation Division Director (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – March 12, 2018
The Recreation Division within the Seattle Parks Department is a phenomenal place to work, great staff that work to meet community and customer needs.
Pros
Recreation Division
Cons
Department Culture
Stressful environment to work in
Workers' Compensation Analyst (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – March 6, 2018
Stressful environment to work in, this was not always the case, the management changed and it was no longer a place where employees were valued. Other areas of employment outside of Human Resource are still great to work in.
Pros
excellent benefits
Contract employee so don't interpret this as commentary on the City
Team Lead-PS Project Costing, Customer Contracts (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – March 5, 2018
This was a complicated project with a high degree of change for the City. The personnel that the City dedicated to the project were hard working and invested in the project's outcome. The City deserves kudos for that.
Agency was dissolved due to fiscal and political problems
ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – February 3, 2018
No longer in existence. Don't have much to say.
Served as part of the legal team for a City of Seattle proposed and funded $1.75 Billion major monorail transportation system project, provided legal support to management in all operational and administrative areas, but specifically in the Intellectual Property, Goods & Services, Professional A&E Consultant selections, overseeing and coordinating Outside Legal Counsel services and managing contracts relating to real estate right-of-way acquisitions and eminent domain condemnation proceedings
Served as part of the legal team for a City of Seattle proposed and funded $1.75 Billion major monorail transportation system project, provided legal support to management in all operational and administrative areas, but specifically in the Intellectual Property, Goods & Services, Professional A&E Consultant selections, overseeing and coordinating Outside Legal Counsel services and managing contracts relating to real estate right-of-way acquisitions and eminent domain condemnation proceedings
Pros
Great Project & Futuristic
Cons
Poor planning and lack of long term vision ultimately caused the dissolution of the agency.
Intern Experience
Intern (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – February 2, 2018
It's a really relaxed atmosphere where I worked. Excellent pay, great work hours, and easy commute via transit. Management was a little disorganized in my department, but an overall great experience.
Pros
Relaxed workload, calm atmosphere, friendly people
Cons
Short lunch time, disorganized
Stepping stone
Web Application Developer/Software Engineer (Former Employee) – Seattle, WA – January 28, 2018
Stepping stone
No level playing field and high turnover
Nepotism, lack of appreciation for workhorses.
Ego trips to dehydrated to spying, Lack of feedback to employees.
Especially, since management doesn't invest in all it's employees. Especially, when they are constantly networking for themselves or relatives. Real need for mentorship, better pay, lack of advancement opportunities and value
No level playing field and high turnover
Nepotism, lack of appreciation for workhorses.
Ego trips to dehydrated to spying, Lack of feedback to employees.
Especially, since management doesn't invest in all it's employees. Especially, when they are constantly networking for themselves or relatives. Real need for mentorship, better pay, lack of advancement opportunities and value
Be Very Carefull
IT Systems Analyst (Current Employee) – Seattle, WA – January 17, 2018
If you value a progressive work environment that's organized, fair, and unbiased this is not the place for you. Favors are rampant, objectivity is nil. Relationships and allegiances are fleeting. Hard work is not recognized or appreciated. This a very strange place to work.
I loved to work on a fast paced environment during Festivals
Full Time janitor ,OCC Lead Janitor (Former Employee) – Seattle Center – January 4, 2018
If you like Festivals like I do and working around hundreds of thousands of guest, then this is a very cool job (at Seattle Center) Very fast pace at times, a lot of loud music and all sort of performers.I loved to work there for nine years!
Pros
Full benefits, free orca, low cost parking.
Cons
To much drama (power struggles)
Ratings from women
2.4InHerSight Score
1.9Personal Development
2.7Career Opportunities
2.7Family Support
Women rate the female-friendliness of their workplaces on InHerSight
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