Pros
Flex time, tuition remission (NYU pays for doctorates and CUNY will cost you less in taxes so Pace's tuition remission program is behind the curve), unlimited sick days, and ample vacation. That is it. There are a few departments that are great to work for such as ITS, Study Abroad, CAE, CCAR, Student Success. Pace University in general isn't a bad place. ITS and many of the auxiliary and administrative offices are a delight, but there lurks a few places that are black holes for talent ensuring that all the joy, passion, and hope that do many bring to their profession is promptly sucked out and only a jaded, burnt out shell is left behind. Career Services is one of these places. In any place turnover is expected and can be a good allowing for an infusion of ideas. However Career Services is different. They typically have a staff of between 20-25 across three campuses. In less than 20 months, about 26 people (not including the parade of student assistants) have left including 80% of management.
Cons
At one time Career Services was one of its signature departments and a shining example of how to develop the next generation of talent and programs that were geared to students. Today the department is plagued with mismanagement and poor leadership which fosters a culture of mediocrity, poor morale, elitism, and puts student career development second only to finding creative ways to inflate their placement numbers while making sure it is legal instead of ethical. As for salary, they are joke. They start their admin staff and career counselors close to 20-30% less than comparable schools. Want a raise? Enjoy the "generous" 2.0-2.7% merit raise based on a performance appraisal that is laborious and so subjective that HR orders managers to limit the number of folks they can give high marks to minimize costs. There are no bonuses or wage increases to reward efficiency, experience, certifications, or other milestones. Want job advancement? If you're an admin person or support staff you're out of luck. Counselors can strive to be senior career counselors or assistant directors, but recently Associate Director and above are left to the truly incompetent or those willing to let their souls die and never question the status quo or the executive director. Looking to be creative and want resources to support you? This isn't the place for you. Look elsewhere. Baruch, NYU, Manhattan College, NYIT are better alternatives. But what about professional development? Sure, you can attend conferences if you're upper management or love to kiss butt. Otherwise it is not happening unless it is free or if management decides to throw the occasional crumbs at the lower tier. Mentoring and leadership? Who has time? Counselor caseloads are insanely high because people keep leaving. So much so that students and alumni complain about long waits to see counselors or hear a response via email or phone. Their attempt at turning the office to a placement office underscores their desire for numbers vs helping students. They are heavily relying on temps because they are not willing to pay career counselors a marketable salary and finding qualified folks is harder than ever because their reputation is in the toilet. If management's plan was to make the department look foolish, unprofessional, push out experienced and talented employees, offer less career development, and appear impotent: mission accomplished. If you still decide to take the plunge and apply to a job at this department, -- have an exit strategy. Plan to use those unlimited sick days for interviews.