Novartis

"Honestly the women in leadership are the worst part. Promoted to be promoted and fill quotas. But no sense of leadership, knowledge or direction. Speaking up is frowned upon even if its for patient impact. The integrity of the organization is falling where Novartis worked hard to make this better"

"Experience depends on your manager. Also, must move to Basel to progress. "

"Not a good place to work/ have career advancement opportunity if you are a working mom with young/ schoolage children."

"If you get a supportive manager, you can grow a lot. Most of the people are nice. Keep in mind that some teams do not hire, and if you're on those understaffed teams, any work you take on will be on top of the work typically expected of you. They'll praise it in meetings like "This is great work and helps so many people!", but they won't give you additional resources. Be careful not to burn out. At the end of the day, you're either someone that churns out deliverables or a people manager. Many of the high performers I knew had one foot out the door and left as they found leadership opportunities elsewhere."

"They have their own way of doing things. And most of it stems from the fact that the headquarters is in Switzerland. It may take time to adjust and learn the lingo, but it is a great place to work."

"Good opportunities at middle-low management level Great flexibility and understanding of your needs Almost equal pay of al least there are initiatives to reach"

"No. The culture is very stifling. The conformity expectations are too high. Novartis has to expand its sense of 'acceptable masculine' in order to build the skills necessary to support a range on 'acceptable feminine'. "

"Negotiate flexible time if it would help you function better in your role. "

"Novartis is on a journey to bring out the best in all employees, women and men. We are building a culture that supports curiosity and well being as well as performance excellence with a clear motive: To improve and extend patients lives."

"Worked a lot with working moms that made the hours work. I had women leadership but did not seem to have a great work life balance. "

"If you work in the right department, you will have a tremendous level of management support for both work-life balance and career development."

"There are many positive initiatives and recently many more women hired into top positions"

"Overall great benefits but work flexibility depends on your direct manager"

"You need to figure out your way of making yourself heard that doesn't upset the male ego. You need to be vocal and show you can excel at your role. "

"You need to work twice as hard as a man if you want to be an executive."

"Senior level female here. I can assure you that the company does not see males and females as offering the same degree of contribution to the company. I could write a book. Really. "

"Although they have women represented in executive positions, a more formal sponsorship program would be helpful"

"Eyes open -if you have real career ambitions, be careful about the jobs you take -and negotiate hard for titles, salaries and benefits. There's little chance to fix things once you are in the role"

"My chosen profession is generally a male dominated environment. However here at Novartis I have had to female IT leads which has been refreshing to say the least."

"We are all a product of our environment. Implicit gender bias by both men and women exists however there are attempts to balance the disproportionate gender inequality."

"I've worked for 3 different managers so far and my manger has the biggest impact on my work happiness. I worked for 2 men who were workaholics and would make me stay super late very often. Now, I work for a working mom who prioritizes family. My life is so much better working for her! Managers change frequently so don't panic if you get a bad one at first."

"Be ready to compete with men culture and be set aside. You will fight for every thing even to be treated fair. You have to have a coach and a top manager to protect you and help you or it will be almost impossible to grow."

"Advancement is close to impossible. No matter how much or how hard you work. Very flat organization that rewards only a chosen few. Need to be super politically savvy to be able to exist here."