teaching assistant

postdoctoral fellow

research assistant

research associate

graduate assistant

University of Toronto

Working at AccessAbiltiy Services UTSC as a Disability Consultant is mainly challenging with some rewards. To start with the rewards, you do feel like you’re making a difference for students and it’s a joy to work with most of them and get to know them, the campus is beautiful with a nice trail when you need to unwind, staff are generally laid back across this campus (compared to downtown and UTM), there are good professional development courses/sessions as you’re working in a university, and the benefits and pay are pretty good.

Leadership is the biggest concern. Both directors have been in the role for 20+ years and are dedicated to belittling and micromanaging their staff and team lead. Ideas are mostly shut down unless they align with management’s ideas, which are outdated. You’ll find that over the last 5 years, all new and older staff have left because of the challenges with leadership. This is something that is well known across the UTSC campus. Due to constant turn over you will have a very high case load for which you get no support. Leadership will ask you to speak to them about case load issues, but when you do, conversations veer towards this being your fault and no changes are made (many staff leave these conversations feeling puzzled). This is somewhat understandable as the turnover is so high and many students are complaining to see a Disability Consultant, but there is little consideration for staff burnout, which is a constant concern among staff. In addition to having a high caseload, leadership will also expect you to participate in programming for students, but this will eat into your time for administrative tasks and there is little consideration for how to manage your case load, prepare, and deliver programming all at the same time. You’ll need to figure out a way to make this work on your own, without dropping the ball on either one. 

There is an expectation that student needs always come before staffs. Appointments are booked weeks (sometimes months) in advance, and if you want to take time off but have a student appointment be ready to be questioned about your motives, ability to do the job, and lack of foresight (why would you book a personal/medical appointment during a day you need to meet with students?). You’ll have to manage your life in a way that you book any time off months in advance. There’s very little room for unexpected time off in this position without pushback from management. Schedules are rigid here and every hour is accounted for, with the front desk setting all your appointments in advance. This is not a position where you have the flexibility to make your own schedule. At some point, each staff comes to the realization that it's not sustainable to stay at AccessAbility. Unfortunately, with the high caseloads and micromanaging, this keeps you so busy it’s hard to network and get out of this department. 

Also, if you have a disability, you will be offered very little support, if any, in this position. This is a bit of an odd feature of this department, since your job is to support students with disabilities and you are in a unionized environment. Leadership has honed a tactful way to deny their own staff accommodations and/or make them jump through so many hoops until they give up. 

If you find yourself in a situation where a student makes a complaint. The initial reaction will be that you are at fault, and you’ll likely be belittled and micromanaged for an undetermined amount of time, with your job security threatened. There is no due process here to investigate student’s concerns and very little support for staff aside from the support you get from other staff who understand how leadership operates and can empathize. 

Lastly, I encourage you to reach out to any of the staff here before you consider submitting your resume to see if any of the points I’ve shared are still issues (staff contacts can be found on the webpage). I write this detailed review as unfortunately many new staff are blind-sided by their experience here and unless you’re part of the UTSC community, you won’t know any better (almost all new hires are external, very few  staff (if any) internally want to be a part of this department). Unfortunately, many people across the university know the challenges with the leadership in this office, but for some reason leadership continues to be untouched/unchanged, even in a unionized environment. For this reason, I would encourage you to exercise caution when considering this specific department at UTSC.

Advice for management: 

Ensure staff have meaningful practical support rather than expecting staff to meet multiple department expectations and deadlines (case load, programming) while keeping quiet. 

Learn how to foster an environment of transparency, trust, and excellence, rather than employing fear tactics, belittling staff, and micromanaging them. 

Senior leadership/human resources need to keep these department leaders accountable. Staff are expected to be at work (in person) on time and meet a high threshold of duties while department leaders don't come in to work for days (sometimes weeks) reporting that they have "different schedules" and stall on providing direction and then blame staff for issues that arise. Perhaps a departmental investigation would shed light on the culture of leadership here. 

Many staff come from professional clinical backgrounds (OT, counselling) where empathy and good communication skills are essential. Leadership should also be expected to have these qualities and reflect professionalism when interacting with both staff and students. 

The wider UTSC community is aware of the poor leadership and collaboration in this department. Accessibility Services staff as well as other staff across the UTSC community should be able to conduct anonymous performance reviews on the leadership to ensure patterns of behaviour towards staff and students come to light early and can be addressed through the appropriate channels and training.

The rating for this company is based on a contract employment position and would be very different for a full time employee overall and especially in the categories that were marked lower in this assessment. A typical day at work:
9:00: Turn on tissue culture hood, and put media in water bath. Plan out the experiments of the day and prepare the samples needed

9:30: Perform lab activities if it is more efficient to do so in the morning. This includes Bradford assays, Western Blots, mini-preps, maxi-preps and running agarose gels.

12-1: Lunch

1:00: Transfer protein gels to PVDF, image agarose gels, determine DNA concentrations from mini-prep/maxi-prep

2:30: Perform tissue culture experiments including seeding or passing cells, changing media, infecting cells with virus, freezing cells, or harvesting virus

4:30: Record in the log book the activities of the day and clean up the bench. Check if anything needs to be autoclaved for the next day or if supplies need to be refilled

5:00: End of day. More often than not the day would go longer because of experiments taking longer to 6:30

It was a very good experience working here and I learned many new techniques as stated above including western blotting, tissue culture work and several molecular biology techniques such as site directed mutagenesis. I also learned about the alternative splicing of HIV-1 that is required for its proliferation as that was the focus of the lab I was in.

The management was good and they had recently made a break room space for the floor I was working on including a big screen TV, couches and a lunch room area with a fridge, microwave, toaster and dishwasher. With the occasional coffee and cookies session and monthly floor parties it was an enjoyable aspect of working at U of T.

My coworkers were very helpful during my time directing me to wherever I needed to go and showing me how to perform the various techniques required to do my experiments. Most of my coworkers were also closer to my age and so we shared a lot of common interests, but in general the people working on my floor were very courteous and helpful and contributed to the positive experience I had here.

The hardest part of the job was having to deal with experiments not working for various different reasons and trying to be patient and realizing that in research not everything is going to work right away. However it was also interesting to try and solve those problems by troubleshooting.

The most enjoyable part of the job was simply learning all the different techniques involved in the research process and seeing the results from your experiments. Whether the results were promising or if the experiment did not give the expected results it was good to try and learn from my mistakes and try new things. And it was especially enjoyable when experiments worked, and particularly if they were something difficult or something that had taken time to get a successful result

A typical day at work in a sports stadium can be exciting and fast-paced. As an AI language model, I don't have personal experiences, but I can provide insights based on general observations. In such a setting, the day often starts with preparations for upcoming events, such as setting up equipment, ensuring the facilities are clean and ready, and coordinating with various departments involved in event management.

Working in a sports stadium can be a great learning experience, as it exposes employees to different aspects of event planning, logistics, and customer service. They may gain knowledge about crowd management, facility maintenance, and even specific sports-related operations.

Effective management is crucial in such an environment, as it involves coordinating multiple teams and ensuring smooth operations. Managers need to be adept at handling unforeseen situations, making quick decisions, and prioritizing tasks to maintain the stadium's functionality and safety.

Workplace culture in a sports stadium often revolves around teamwork, collaboration, and a strong focus on customer satisfaction. Employees need to work together seamlessly to provide an enjoyable experience for visitors, often under high-pressure circumstances.

The hardest part of the job in a sports stadium may be dealing with unexpected challenges and managing large crowds, especially during high-profile events. Employees may need to handle demanding situations, such as crowd control or resolving conflicts, while maintaining composure and ensuring everyone's safety.

The most enjoyable part of the job is likely witnessing and being part of the electrifying atmosphere during major sporting events. Being in the midst of passionate fans, experiencing the thrill of the game, and contributing to creating a memorable experience for attendees can be incredibly rewarding.

Overall, working in a sports stadium can offer a dynamic and stimulating work environment with opportunities for personal growth, teamwork, and the chance to be part of unforgettable moments in the world of sports.

This review is specifically for the Faculty of Music and not other departments at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Music is fortunate to have a number of highly qualified and dedicated instructors who go above and beyond for their students and are pleasant to staff however the Administrative Staff in the Faculty of Music are very unprofessional and mean spirited. The Admin Staff and Managers gossip about all of the instructors and actually make jokes about them as soon as they leave the office. Mean spirited jokes included if you had to choose between all of the Custodians - which one would you take? They are all so ugly. Hahaha. One of the staff members was taking swimming classes at a City Pool and would do reenactments of the other people taking classes the next day to the laughter of all in the office. Personal details about students were discussed openly among the office staff. Staff would look out the window to see which of the students were smoking and formed a consensus that String Players seemed to smoke the most. If you listened to the office staff everyone except the staff members were profound losers. The head of the Office had a God complex and the staff sucked up to her. The staff views on life were bitter and skewed. It was like one dysfunctional group of co dependent haters of life all helping each other feel superior to everyone else in the world.The unsuspecting instructors traveled the world and would bring souvenir chocolates to the office staff who would fawn over them and  greedily gobble the chocolate up before launching into the next character assassination. Members of the public who happened to wander into the building were good for many laughs If you are not willing to suck up to the Head Honchess with the God complex or join the haters of life club working here is not recommended.You will be ostracized and treated like trash.

Being a Don at the University of Toronto Mississauga was the best job I have ever had. It was my job to help students integrate into a new home on residence at UTM. A "typical day" is indescribable since the job requires quick thinking for new situations that you may encounter. Interactions with students, programming events for residents, and performing administrative tasks changed constantly which kept things fresh and interesting.

This job required a high degree of management skills since being employed as a Don requires you to balance your job with your social life, as well as your academic degree throughout the year. In order to succeed, a person must be highly motivated, they must love what they are doing, and quick on their feet.

The co-workers for this job become your close friends who you grow to love. From the start, the Dons act as a support system for one another. Through collaboration and cooperation, this job teaches you how to succeed as a team, as well as how to innovate and improve all aspects on residents by employing everyone's unique talents.

The hardest part of the job is remaining persistent with the overall quality of service you offer. This is a very demanding job, and it can be very hard to execute all of your responsibilities with a high degree of excellency, especially since it takes place alongside your educational degree.

Almost all aspects of this job are enjoyable. In my opinion, the most enjoyable part of the job is seeing students who you've assisted throughout the year grow and thrive. The impact this job allows you you to have on other people is amazing, and there's nothing more rewarding than seeing how your efforts have positively improved the lives of those around you.

A typical day at work was preparing, organizing, packaging and sorting  exams for the weeks to come.  Keeping track of incoming and out going exams from the professors.  Communicating with the professors  to ensure Exams are handed in on schedule for Exam time.  When working as a Proctor for the Exams,   a typical day was ensuring the class room is ready for examination.  Writing rules on the classroom blackboard and verbally explaining rules to the students.  Ensure students are seated in a manner and places that are appropriate and that there is no room for cheating.  Welcoming students to the classroom and ensuring students have the allowed instruments needed for the exam.   Walking around the classroom and ensuring students are not cheating.   Working with stressed students made me understand how to be balanced with my interactions with them.   I needed to be firm and at the same time not put more pressure on them for they  already  feel pressure from examination.  They do not need more stress but at the same time I needed to be firm with the rules and regulations.  The most enjoyable part of the Job with seeing the relief of  students faces after  exams ended.  The hardest part of the Job was ensuring the professors have handed in the exams on time and all exams are ready for distribution on the different exam days.

UTSC Pre-Law Society is a student club at University of Toronto, with the mandate of helping out those interested in going to law school. 

As the President, I oversee all Pre-Law events and operations. A typical shift would usually involve me hosting a meeting between executives to make decisions on events, guest speakers, supplies, budget, and other important decisions. I'd then list out the tasks that need to be fulfilled and assign them to each executive. Since I did all the marketing, usually after that I'd advertise our events and the club via a mass email, facebook, twitter, and our school's website (intranet). When needed, I'd read resume, interview, and hire executives. 

The hardest part of the job is motivating executives, as many tasks are rather boring and tedious. However, I achieved this by instilling a sense of teamwork within executives, and by rewarding executives with events like "executive appreciation night", where all the executives go to dinner together. The most enjoyable part of the job is seeing everything come together at events, and see how much we benefited pre-law students. 

I learned how to be a leader who needs to be both authoritative but also friendly with executives, and with pre-law members. I also learned how to interact with various school departments to get the job done. 

A typical day at work usually involves with updating the cash registry, communication with the managerial team on updates/progress of the previous work date. 
Management has always been on top of oncoming updates and transferring information to all workers, I have learned to communicate effectively and quickly to ensure the smoothest transition of information via email, telephone and in person.
Client inquiries ranged from easy tasks to difficult tasks, and from that I have learned how to diagnose their issues and provide a solution and/or recommendation.
One of the hardest part of the job is the sheer volume of clients you get in a day, and being able maintain composure for repetitive inquiries, difficult clients and/or issues with the cash registry. However, throughout my years of working here I have learned effective ways of maintaining professionalism without losing my composure. 
I enjoyed making people's day and ensuring their issues are resolved as well as ensuring all transactions are processed and accounted for. I also enjoyed developing strong relationships with my co-workers and the managerial team.

Bikechain is, in a lot of ways, much like a restaurant. It provides a fast-paced environment with a focus on client relations. And of course, you are guaranteed to get your hands dirty. 

This is within a community that emphasizes fairness and compassion - which should be a standard for all workplaces, but it does bear mentioning here.

Everyone who comes to Bikechain has a common interest, but we all come from different fields and walks. This is one of Bikechain's strengths: management works to integrate people, and provide opportunities for them. It is recognized that majority of employees, volunteers, and clients are also students. This means learning - especially of the hands-on variety - is always available. It is possible to exercise a wide range of skills, including mechanics, client relations, promotion, and planning.

The work can be difficult at times; occasionally, we will encounter an irate client or a long queue. But that's part of the challenge, and the best part of working at Bikechain is having newcomers ask questions, play with tools and parts they haven't ever named before, and ultimately ride away with new knowledge (and hopefully lights and a bell).

A typical day as a CMA Student Ambassador is to set up events that would target the CMA designation. My position requires me to send out emails to department heads at the University of Toronto Mississauga and arranged times and venues to host events. After arranging the time and place, it is required of me to ensure CMA volunteers arrive on time and are greeted well. Through the event it's my role to answer questions about the designation to students who show an interest and as well to promote the event across the campus. Through this volunteer experience I've learned to develop excellent communication and networking skills, as well as time management skills. The hardest part about this volunteer position is that I have to connect with individuals on a daily basis and keep in touch with everyone that I meet. Sometimes there isn't enough time in the day to stay connected with everyone. The most enjoyable part of this volunteer experience is that I get to network with a large group of CMA Industry professional and get feedback from them to how I can be successful in pursuing my CMA designation.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Teaching assistant 70 salaries reported	$48.26 per hour
Postdoctoral fellow 33 salaries reported	$59,091 per year
Research assistant 21 salaries reported	$27.62 per hour
Research associate 15 salaries reported	$72,970 per year
Graduate assistant 13 salaries reported	$50.15 per hour

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