Pros
Union
CTO
Many wonderful clients, families/support teams, and coworkers, some caring and competent managers
Not being stuck in an office all day
Get to make a difference in client’s lives
Health insurance isn’t so bad
Pay and work/life balance can be better in this job compared to other lower-paying jobs, though the risk for life-changing work injuries is a serious risk that must be weighed. Most people get hurt eventually in this job for one reason or another. Howard Center could be a lot more proactive with safety.
Cons
Work injuries
Inexperienced and poorly trained managers who are often treated poorly by more senior managers
Uncaring managers (like not letting you say goodbye to a client after working with them for multiple years for no good reason)
Uncaring managers (like forcing you to stop working with clients you have strong and skilled working relationships with because they won’t accommodate your schedule)
Uncaring and rigid managers (like refusing to make the number of hours of your position more so that you can only work more hours with a client by going full time or by being a sub and not earning CTO on those hours even if you work those hours every week, despite the fact that they are about 50% understaffed and your and most other clients aren’t getting a lot of the support hours they have funding for)
Recent switch to a worse health insurance company (CBA Blue)
Underfunding by the state and federal government