Vantaggi
Along with being a world-class institution, UCLA Health truly cares about the health and well-being of its employees. Between free yoga, free intensive workout programs, live music mental health breaks, and fabulous health insurance packages, it is hard not to thrive here. Health employees who work with patients get free scrubs/uniforms. The work training is really well done. Thanks to my clinical focus (and my union), this is the best I have ever been paid. I love everyone I work with. It is a drama-free environment. There are numerous avenues to moving up the ranks in UCLA Health, and the management supports those who want to. Also, the Westwood campus is in a fabulous location, surrounded by many stores, amenities, and attractions. I really should be moving along with my career at this point, but I keep procrastinating because I just love being here so much.
Svantaggi
The bureaucracy is definitely unwieldy. It took me 6 months to get hired, and 3 more months to get my own desk phone. However, once I was established in my position a while, it was smooth sailing. Also, offices are required to create a public job posting, even if they already have someone in mind for a position (and even if they receive hundreds of resumes, they will select that person anyway). Be wary of postings that require absurdly specific skills, as they may have been written with a particular person in mind. The job application interface only allows you to apply to 5 postings at a time, so choose wisely. Finally, if you do want to work here, plan to live close or live near public transit. UCLA and Westwood are notoriously short of parking spaces, and UCLA spots are sold to employees for $200/month, might be far away from your office, and that's only if you win the parking lottery. Everything is really close in Westwood though, so there's little need for a car in the area.
