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Student Conservation Association

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Student Conservation Association Reviews

4.0

91% would recommend to a friend

(164 total reviews)

Jaime Matyas

55% approve of CEO

60% positive business outlook

Student Conservation Association has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 164 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Student Conservation Association employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management and consulting industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

164 reviews
2.0
21 Aug 2018

Management

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great program staff, dedicated to mission and to conservation. Many loyal individuals who have stayed at the organization through thick and thin.

Cons

A toxic organizational culture, starting with the senior leadership team and percolating down through the organization. CEO has surrounded herself with ineffective leadership team who are loyal to her but not to the organization. There is an environment of distrust and fear that ironically comes from the person in charge of HR whose job it is to create the opposite effect. I have never seen a more fear-driven culture in any nonprofit.

1.0
5 Feb 2018

No Communication, No Pay, Isolation

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You get to work outside and work towards your "career" in conservation. Variety of jobs across America which have various roles in parks and other public lands.

Cons

Miscommunication from the organization to the parks they help. I arrived to my remote job to find out it was much less accessible than I was told by both the SCA and the park. I was told day one my position would not lead me to an actual job, and immediately was treated like I was expendable and almost worthless because my position was only 3 months. My adviser told me I shouldn't have even driven my car to the site because of the road conditions (after I had asked multiple times if my make and model would be suffice before I took the position.) I ended up having to leave early because of the job troubles, total lack of communication, and what I found to be unsafe work ethics. Months later I still owe the SCA money because I withdrew early. I got paid $85 a week to live in total isolation to "kickstart my career" and somehow I owe them money. It's a corrupt system when you are forced to volunteer just to even be worthy enough of a seasonal job that makes what should be the federal minimum wage.

1.0
6 Apr 2015

Program Manager

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

*Believe in the mission *Coworkers are great *Good benefits especially PTO if you can actually take time off from work *Lax dress code

Cons

*Bloated organization at the top. Too many VP's, Senior VPs, and Directors. *Messed up financial systems. Make decisions based on incorrect financial data. *Highly reactive and chaotic organization. *You can kiss your job goodbye unless you're part of the clique.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 164 Reviews

Glassdoor has 313 Student Conservation Association reviews submitted anonymously by Student Conservation Association employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Student Conservation Association is right for you.