Duke Clinical Research Institute

"Duke University's maternity leave policy includes 3 weeks of paid leave. The insurance plan does not cover breast pumps. Bi-weekly employees are not allowed to work remotely. "

"Duke University has a great, well-deserved reputation for its academic excellence. Duke, overall, is also known to have great benefits which I can agree with, in general. However, the Duke Clinical Research Institute, or DCRI for short, falls under the School of Medicine and doesn't have nearly as great of a reputation. Yes, there are smart, well published faculty and impressive research work that has come out of this place but it's a dismal work experience complete with stale employees who have been there too long, forced hierarchies, overly authoritative management, a less than energetic vibe throughout the place and poor quality work. It's true what they say - - make it through that first 3 months of probation and you are a "keeper". You'll work incredibly hard during that first 3 months to prove yourself but once they pass you then you are considered to be a good asset. Now, be prepared to take tons of training classes and to work long hours if you are forced to train AND work on a project immediately out the gate. Beware of being "set up to fail". The DCRI is notorious for doing this to people and everyone will know you're being set up and you'll be the last to know. Advocate for yourself early but if you need your job and can't afford to lose it, then don't speak up too much during that first 3 months. They are not afraid to terminate people and take great pleasure in being able to do so during probation because after probation it is really hard to get someone fired (or, so I have heard). Quality is low and morale is even lower here. Management burned a lot of people a few years ago and people are still talking about it (even to new hires who haven't been on the job for a few weeks!). Senior management is not great. They will appear to advocate for you (one will always claim he is ready to "defend" you) but this is not always the case. Industry trials keep DCRI afloat. You'll learn this during the 1-week long Orientation (which is actually a very nice welcome). Government trials make no money here and these trials are known as slower than industry trials (the lesser talented folks have been known to be put on government trials). People are messing up on projects all the time and never lose their jobs. Staffing is a nightmare - - DCRI can't hire people fast enough or at all. So, tons of contractors are hired for way more money than the salaried employees. Some of these folks have been at DCRI for decades and so their poor performance is often overlooked by their loyalty time and time again. Management has encouraged the growth of a hostile environment (forcing others to talk to people in really mean ways) and then does very little to stop the bullying that occurs as a result of this hostility breeding. Most of the leadership of the top brass are men. Women then make up a better portion of the next layer of management. Blacks and minorities are not represented well in management at all. There are a number of black people who have been at this company for a decade or two and still remain at a low administrative level or not at the top of their job title. Bottomline advice: Work here if you absolutely need the job for money or experience. Then take what you have learned and find a great job at an amazing employer."