research assistant

professeur

responsable de département

directeur programmation

librarian

Thompson Rivers University

I was really fortunate to have a great position at TRU, under a very good department (OL), with a great boss. This is not the same for everyone that works at TRU. Your experience will depend on your job, department, and any management you work under. Unfortunately, there are some aspects of working at TRU that you should know before applying or accepting a job.

- TRU suffers from the 10/90 principle. Basically, 10% of the people do 90% of the work.
- TRU is a bureaucracy. You can work hard and do a good job, but your long year term co-worker, who is currently sleeping at his desk, will get the next promotion because he was there longer than you. Always remember that "longevity" wins in these kinds of environments. 
- No culture. Despite what some people will tell you, TRU has no real culture among the staff and its departments. This can make collaboration or asking questions a nightmare, since most of the people are only there to "clock in and clock out". 
- Requests take a long time to fill. If you need something ordered, then you should have done it "yesterday". Any requests to orders that you need can take weeks to months to get ordered. Even though you could go to a store and pick up what you need in a matter of an hour, you will have to order it through the university.
- TRU will become your life. If you are a good worker and get a lot of stuff done, there is a good chance you can be asked to work overtime and come in on weekends. This really depends on your department and boss, but it is not uncommon for staff to work evenings and weekends.
- Regular staff & department meetings. Something that became quite the norm was the amount of meetings that we had to attend. Yes, you get paid to go to these meetings, but they can take a lot of time away from your work. Be prepared for yearly conventions & seminars, which you are required to attend. 

All in all, I really did enjoy my time at TRU. I loved my boss, and enjoyed the work that I did. But, you need to keep in mind what kind of environment that you are working in. If you feel that you cannot put up with any of the points I mentioned above, than I recommend you not to apply or work at TRU. If you are able to put up with the points I mentioned, and you are fortunate to have a good boss, than you should enjoy your time working at TRU.

If you are an IT professional looking to work within the public sector, I would avoid TRU all together and look elsewhere. As a few of the other commenters have mentioned, there is way too much of an emphasis on the politics and working culture compared to the focus on tasks needing to get done. As in a lot of public sector environments, IT individuals tend to get looked down upon as many staff members will claim that "you don't do anything of importance" on a regular basis. The management that you have to work under has little to no experience in the IT or tech field, even though they tell you they have a lot. This makes the overall leadership of projects and providing IT solutions a headache for the extensive process that you are put through. 

Initially, when I got the role, I was looking forward to the position and moving forward with my skillset and experience in the IT field. That changed dramatically over the past two years of working at TRU. If you are a junior or mid level IT professional looking for a new opportunity, some new experiences for your resume, or you need a job - fine. If you are a seasoned professional and have multi years of experience, I would suggest looking elsewhere if you want a public sector job. The provincial and federal IT roles pay higher compared to TRU as well; be prepared for a low bar offer during the negotiations. If you are offered a contract compared to a full time offer, take the contract instead to avoid all of the internal headaches.

This is a tough review to make since I really enjoyed my position quite a bit; however, there were a handful of aspects of this job that I wish was told before accepting the position. As mentioned in some previous reviews, your experience at TRU depends on the department that you work under. I found that the hardest part of this position was dealing with management and the lack of communication and decisiveness they had. It wasn't uncommon to go weeks on end without having an idea of where management stood on a project and/or on decisions that had to be made. 

I really enjoyed the job itself, for the fact that there was something different to work on each and every day. Unfortunately, there were many times that I was handed work & projects last minute, which made deadlines a lot tighter then they had to be. Things tended to move at a slower pace, and I often found myself waiting for other people to get work done before I could proceed. This position also required a bit of travel and extended hours, which I didn't mind at all. Be mindful that not all jobs at TRU are your typical 8 to 4 or 9 to 5 job, and that includes this position.

I've worked at TRU with a few different titles: undergraduate research assistant, graduate research assistant, teaching assistant, and laboratory manager. Each position I felt confident and capable in, and I felt welcome at my place of work. It was a nice transition from being a student to an employee, and using what I learned from being a student in my everyday life. The people are all excellent to work with, and my supervisors were always reachable and I felt cared for in the workplace. Where I was, it was a relaxed position with a lot of understanding from my peers and supervisors, so that was really nice. Perhaps the hardest part about the jobs I had would be delivering bad news, since it's such a positive work environment and I didn't want to let anyone down. In the end though, we all find solutions to our problems together and come to agreements and understandings. The most enjoyable part of my jobs was the amount of day to day variation. Some days we would be travelling to the nearby grasslands, other days we have to go on a seven hour drive to reach our destination, and other days we have to stay back and perform lab work. This created an excellent work environment for everyone involved.

Before I get into this review, I want to state that there is a difference working at TRU for union employees, compared to those who are non-union employees and contracted out positions. My position was an 18 month (auxiliary) contract, that was put together when TRU hired me onboard. I enjoyed my position quite a bit, and I did have some nice benefits given to me. I really enjoyed the kind of work I was able to do on projects that I was a part of. Unfortunately, there were some aspects of being a contracted employee that I had to put up with. 
 
If you work at TRU as a non-union employee, or pick up a contract through TRU, be prepared for a much different experience to those who are union employees. Management was headache to deal with at times, since I wasn't a union employee, and I had to go about things differently. It was also not uncommon for non-union and contracted employees to be asked to work overtime & weekends. Additional and last minute work loads started to become an ongoing problem, which became too much to deal with by the end of my contract.

I Have worked as a part-time instructor at TRU for many years, starting when it was Cariboo College, then later when it was University College of the Cariboo, and since it became Thompson Rivers University. For a number of years I have been an online Faculty Member in the Geography Department. I have found the interaction with students interesting, the program delivery staff have been helpful and supportive, and I have enjoyed teaching online in a variety of courses, including Human Geography, Physical Geography, BC Regional Geography and Canadian Regional Geography.

I do most of my work at TRU online from my home office, but I interact with delivery support people both through email and also through a TRU phone, which I have in my home office. I have a well-equipped home office with my own laser colour printer/scanner/copier/fax machine and a black and white printer for high volume printing.

TRU organizes an annual professional development workshop for Open Learning faculty members. I have attended some of these events and found them to be useful in terms of awareness of the university environment and also for maintaining  my academic and teaching skills.

I enjoyed the freedom to dictate my own hours, yet I was incredibly restricted as to the AMOUNT of hours I could work. Minimum wage is awful, especially for a student, and I did end up doing more work than was outlined in the job descriptions, so I feel as though pay should have been higher. Since it's only a year, there is no opportunity for advancement or wage increases, and no benefits. My co-workers, of there were 2, both had comfortable personalities and we got along swimmingly. Management was contained primarily to our professors, and so it was easy to comment on duties and relay work hours, as well as ask for advice. Working in my field, although not entirely in the WAY I'm training for, allowed for additional experience, and fostered a unique place of learning not usually present in your average job. I know a lot about chemical consumption/reactions and computer programming, as well as abstract expressionism. In those regards, it was lovely.

Accolades Dining Room is a fine dining experience that serves 5 course meals and also has an excellent wine menu to accompany meals. 
The culinary department also caters banquet events for large amounts of guests. They are either plate service of 3 - 5 course meals or buffet style. 
At TRU's culinary department I have expanded my knowledge of fine food and wine. I also learned to appreciate the hard work and effective communication the front of the house and back had to put into an event to provide an amazing experience for the guests.
The management of Accolades have been there for many years and my coworkers were enjoyable to work with.
The hardest part but also an enjoyable challenge of the job was time management in set up however we never failed to be ready for service.
The most enjoyable part of my job was interaction with the guests and being able to help make their experience an enjoyable one so they would want to return to our establishment and experience it all again.

Working at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) has been an incredibly rewarding experience. The university fosters a supportive and inclusive environment that values diversity and innovation. As an employee, I have had the opportunity to work with a dedicated team of professionals who are passionate about student success. TRU's commitment to excellence in education is evident in its state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge research opportunities.

One of the highlights of working at TRU is the strong sense of community on campus. The university offers a wide range of professional development opportunities and encourages employees to pursue their passions. The work-life balance at TRU is also commendable, with hybrid scheduling options and a range of wellness programs available to employees. Overall, working at Thompson Rivers University has been a fulfilling experience, and I am proud to be a part of such a dynamic and forward-thinking institution.

I worked as a research assistant where I helped professors who have overload in their research. My responsibilities included writing up sections of their papers (e.g. literature reviews, introductions, findings, results, and conclusions). I also helped them with data analysis and the development of surveys. The professors were great to work with and provided a lot of insight into what is required when developing journal articles. It was a great job, because I was provided with a flexible schedule, which meant that I could work whenever it was suitable for me. However, the only issue I had with the job was how the site where I had to log in my hours was sometimes buggy and it meant that I had to contact the relevant people who could deal with the issues quite a few times. Overall, I would say that it is a great part-time job for a recent graduate like myself.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Research assistant 3 salaries reported	$24.67 per hour
Professeur 2 salaries reported	$152,570 per year
Responsable de département 3 salaries reported	$126,465 per year
Directeur programmation 4 salaries reported	$134,471 per year
Librarian 2 salaries reported	$162,500 per year

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