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Mad Science

From the online description, I thought working for Mad Science was going to be a fantastic experience. The only good thing about this job was being able to learn and teach young children about science. Although that is a fantastic benefit of this job, the cons heavily outweigh the single pro. I suggest you continue looking for a more reliable employment opportunity. 

To begin, the job description is highly misleading and deceptive. 
The job description indicates that you will be paid $27.00 an hour. However, it fails to mention that that amount is per class and ONLY for one-hour classes. If you do not teach a one hour class, you receive significantly less. This information was given AFTER you accept the position.  In order to successfully teach a class, you first have to learn the content; they do provide an “orientation” for each kit but it was all heavily rushed through and in order to properly teach the students the material, you have to re-teach the material to yourself. You must also prepare materials BEFORE each class in order for the class to run smoothly and so that you are not wasting 50% of the time dedicated to teaching students just to set up. All of this preparation time is not included in your pay; you are being paid less than minimum wage in the end and working your butt off. You also only get approximately 2.5 to 3 hours a WEEK if you are lucky, so this job will not be of any help in the financial department to you. They also say that they will pay for mileage to and from the schools, what they also do not mention until you accepted the position is that you must drive a total of 20 km BEFORE you can start earning mileage and it is only 0.20 cents per km. In the end, you are not even breaking even on how much you pay in gas to get to each school. You may also be driving up to 3 hours to and from a school which you are not paid for. They also say you receive a “bonus” cheque but in actuality this cheque is the money they owe you for driving to their main office in Burlington EVERY Friday just to switch out your weekly science kit, but disguise it as a “bonus” when it is just a small amount that they reimburse you for your mileage and time; which does not even cover 25% of the total cost for each Friday. 

The office members are very disorganized and incompetent. Every week (not an exaggeration) there was at least 1 item missing from my science kit; some weeks there were whole take homes missing. When I would email the office staff about the missing items, they would just tell me to either drive back to Burlington (hours and gas not paid for) or get is from someone else (hours and gas not paid for) even though it is their responsibility EACH week to ensure all kits are fully stocked. Not quite sure what they are doing throughout the week. The office staff expect you to respond to every email (valid) but fail to return the same respect. They also do not relay information; I drove 45 minutes to a school to be told from the office administrator that the class had been cancelled. My fellow mad scientist knew because the mad scientist office member told her but that same office member did not tell me. When I emailed 2 members of staff and left a voice mail for one, neither returned my email or call. They still have not compensated me for my time or mileage because of their lack of communication. 

Which leads me to my final big issue with this company; unpaid work. I worked 3 classes in my last week with this company and still have not received any pay for them. I have contacted them but they fail to respond with any helpful information and deny me working even though I have the schools and other staff members who vouch for my attendance, not to mention that if I never showed up, there would be rooms full of children unattended….. I’m sure that if that was the case someone would have alerted the office. 

So please, before you apply to this company, look elsewhere because it is not worth your time and loss of wages.

My time there was very short, I had to quit because balancing the job along with school and my other job was too much and the cons waaay outweighed the pros. I love kids, so that's why I was excited about the job. I originally applied to teach classes in school, but my college schedule did not match up so they brought me on as a Birthday Party presenter, which apparently was not common at the time. The drives to people's houses was very annoying, not to mention having to store trunks of stuff in your house until you need it. When I was hired on, they told me it was not common to have birthday parties in the late afternoons on weekends, mostly they were in the mornings. I thought this was great, as my other job was exactly the opposite, and often had shifts after 5pm on weekends. So what happens as soon as I start getting scheduled??? A birthday party in the afternoon, an hour+ away from home, and a shift from my other job at the same time!!!! So that stress was horrible, and ending up calling in sick to my other job (1. because I physically couldn't make it, but 2. because my stress gave me such an intense headache). There were weekends where I got no parties at all, and the other birthday party employee got them all?? and then vice versa some weekends...???? They do compensate your mileage, but not by much. I worked at a not-for-profit charity and they gave me more money per kilometer than Mad Science did and they're a charity! The parents of the birthday kids hardly ever tipped, and they did not control their crazy kids when they were being disruptive or loud during a show, which left me being the "parent" and wasting time calming them down instead of doing the demonstrations. My training was also laughable, I had 1 day of training (a few hours really) and I left feeling so confused. Sometimes my tricks didn't work, or I did them wrong (as you do...you make mistakes when you're new somewhere???) In particular, there were 2 that constantly ruined my show, and they were from the same "party add-on" that parents paid (lots of) extra money for. The one just never worked properly, even though I followed every step in the instruction book (which was incomplete, out of order, or incorrect sometimes) and the second one was dangerous! It created this vinegar-y smelling gas that burned your eyes, and it was SO hard to get the perfect measurements so if you added less nothing happened, and if you added more you'd hurt your eyes or the child's eyes. If I didn't have to travel hours away for a party with crazy kids and uncooperative parents, and all my tricks were safe and easy to do, I would love the job because I truly do love kids. I would recommend this job if you are not looking for something steady, and don't mind driving a lot for work. They say you don't need knowledge of science, but I do believe having some interest or knowledge helps to avoid boring, uninspired or unsafe parties.

Being a presente with Mad Science was a fun and engaging job that allowed for flexible working hours. 

That being said, communication between management and communication from management to staff was often lacking. 

The pay was not competitive. They pay per class taught, not per hour (which is often what they advertise). Each class is anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, with the expectation that you show up early to set materials up and stay afterwards to pack up and clean up after yourself. There was often some preparation to do at home ahead of the classes, unpaid. 

A portion of the commute to and from schools was also reimbursed (per km), but was also far below what would be considered a fair market rate. 

I spent a portion of time working in the office to help with scheduling and registration. Micromanagement was a big issue. I often needed every task approved by management, but they were often not available, or would come in late, or would just not be available. 

Working at Mad Science has been an incredible experience. They offered me a part-time position that fit perfectly with my schedule, and I really appreciated how flexible and accommodating they were. The pay is very fair for the work involved, and every day on the job felt fun and engaging.

The management team is wonderful — approachable, supportive, and genuinely caring. The workplace culture feels like a family, where communication is open and everyone is encouraged to bring their best self to work.

Mad Science helped me discover my passion for teaching by giving me the chance to experience what it’s like to educate and inspire kids. While managing misbehaving students can be challenging at times, the joy of seeing kids excited to learn makes it all worth it. No two days are ever the same, and that’s what makes this job so enjoyable.

I highly recommend Mad Science to anyone looking for a rewarding, fun, and meaningful part-time job experience.

When I joined Mad Science as a Social Media Strategist, I had over 8 years of experience working as a Marketing specialist; however, I was treated like an intern.

I was micro-managed from day 1, and had absolutely zero allowance to do anything in my own style. I had to follow the Marketing Manager's instructions to a tee, and if I did anything like simply suggest a different style for social media posts, I was shut down immediately. 

During the first few weeks, I attempted to show initiative and alter the social media strategy, but the Marketing Manager was clearly annoyed by this.
I received an email one morning while I was working and was instantly fired from the job, for absolutely no reason, other than the fact that I tried to show initiative and make some changes to improve the company's strategy.

I would not recommend this as a workplace to anyone. Their strategy and management style is archaic.

They advertise 27$  an hour for part time presentor. However that's only for the 1 hour of class you teach, and they only compensate your mileage at .28 cents after 20km and station you in school boards that could potentially be an hour drive. It's almost impossible to cover your shifts if you have an illness, because you find your own coverage. You meet every Friday to exchange kits and that's not paid out until the end of the 6 weeks IF you're lucky. I'm still awaiting my last pay check for working every Friday for kit exchanges and its been since mid December and they haven't paid me because their staff manager quit, which also isnt my problem. They have you do your own pay log. Print out your own travel documents. The pay is horrendous for the work that you do. The people are great but the way they advertise this job is atrocious. Their communication is ineffective and almost non existant. Dont waste your time.

This is my third cycle with Mad Science.  I've worked in the Spring, Summer and now Fall.  I enjoy working with both the children, parents and school staff, helping them discover the joys of not only science, but learning.  Management has been tremendous in their ability to allow me the flexibility to work during the times I have off, and the locations close to my house.  Both the management and my co-workers are more like family.  If there is a problem, or a question, there's always someone there to help with a suggestion or an answer.  Supervisors will take their time to explain all of the nuances of the job including the experiments, the science behind it, classroom management, and all the ins and outs too numerous to list here.  I have not known another company that treats its employees with as much respect, understanding or enthusiasm as Mad Science of West New Jersey.

Honestly I wanted to love this job and this company, but management is awful and leaves the instructors to fill the gaps with missing equipment and written materials we should have. Communication isn't great and you aren't guaranteed any amount of hours or pay which is not great if you have bills. However, if you are a college student looking to make some quick and easy cash, this is an alright opportunity especially if you plan on teaching. Just know you don't get reimbursed for all of your time or gas money, you aren't guaranteed consistent working hours/income, and management can be so absent leaving it up to instructors to scramble to make things work. I definitely felt that I had to do way more than what I was being paid for just to make sure the kids had a meaningful time. Overall, not worth being involved.

Mad Science is a fun interactive place to work if you love children.I improved my classroom management and teaching abilities. I really enjoy working for mad science. every co worker is amazing and you never feel left out. the classes we teach to our students are fun and education filled. The hardest part of this job is not knowing the children very long because you are always going to different schools and the sessions are not long. The most enjoyable part of the job is having the kids make the science project and become extremely excited about it.

Mad science is fun and definitely great experience if you’re looking to get into teaching. 
The pay is pretty terrible and they require you to drive weekly to the office to exchange all the kits you have to teach that week. In general there’s a lot of pointless driving (sometimes driving for more hours than you’re teaching), and again you’re not really compensated for your car expenses. I think they take advantage of the goodwill and positive attitudes that generally go along with people who enjoy working with kids. Like any jobs there’s ups and downs. If you don’t hate driving long distances and you have the resources to hold on to the equipment in your car for a week, it’s a fun job. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Instructor 14 salaries reported	$26.82 per hour
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Party entertainer 1 salary reported	$40.00 per hour
Tutor 6 salaries reported	$43.17 per hour
Animateur 1 salary reported	$22.50 per hour

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