Pros
Lots of work to do.
Cons
There are several points I'd like to make about this company. I will write it from the perspective of a new employee and it is written with total honesty and forthright intentions. There are good people that work in the company, but they will be precluded from making a real and noticeable difference due to the dysfunction at the leadership levels. -Your training will be heavy on the nature of interpersonal relationships and preventing lawsuits on behalf of the clients. The documentation aspect, which is the most important aspect of your job will be glossed over and you will be expected to be up and running without working knowledge of how to document and why you do it. This is the reason why this company has so many deficiencies in regard to documentation. If you are quick learner, you will be given the responsibility at a low pay grade, of teaching your coworkers how to write sentences and how to spell. Those that are instructing you when you are on the floor are either burned out individuals that no longer care or others who've skated by without proper oversight for months and years. -You will be privy to driving poorly maintained vehicles that are not in proper working order. Your coworkers don't care about their jobs due to the manner in which management has treated them and leave the vehicles a mess. You are expected to clean up after them. If you say something about it, management will throw it back on you. -Do not try to outshine certain members of the management team. Going above and beyond will put you on their radar for write ups and termination. These individuals have grossly contributed to the state of the programs being run. The programs are full of old furniture, health hazards, poor ventilation, outdated security protocols and a severe lack of cultural or institutional awareness. -Be prepared to use your own laptop to do your job. The computers and office equipment are old and broken. Computers frequently crash and you will be hard pressed to make deadlines. If you don't have your own computer, you will not be able to manage your time effectively. In essence, management has left you out to dry and if you fail...you guessed it, you get written up or fired. -Management uses intimidation and ambush tactics. You never know when you will be accused of something. Keep your mouth shut and your head down, so they don't notice you. They conduct sham investigations and back fill information to fit their narratives. These individuals are sloppy and unprofessional. They will gossip about you behind your back and do little to nothing to improve the conditions around you to help you be more efficient. If you fall short, they will write you up or terminate you. -The documentation process is flawed and the record keeping is shoddy. You are required to do daily and monthly notes on individuals you are assigned to. You will often find yourself doing other worker's note due to them not being properly trained or vetted during the application process to ascertain if they can write English on a proficient level. MVLE is about bodies, not people. They claim to promote from within, but you are always seeing new faces. Think about that as you fill out your application. -The organizations programs are in extreme disrepair. The bathrooms are unsanitary (especially in Chantilly) and you will be extremely cold in the winter and hot during the summer. Dress accordingly, but you will be very uncomfortable. -Everything is meetings. You will be meeting with your department, manager, case worker, guardians, and contractors. You must be able to organize your day effectively and keep a running calendar and tab on the miles you must drive. Management does everything for THEIR convenience, not your's. -Do not be fooled by the slogans and pictures you see on the walls. MVLE is not a therapeutic environment. It is a snatch and grab operation that is satisfied by meeting the bare minimums in order to keep running. You are not a priority; their funding is. You are a mere spoke on the wheel and will be treated as such. Be confident in yourself and keep your resume updated. -Keep your interactions with the management team as minimal as possible. If they notice you work well, they will throw more responsibilities on you without bumping up your pay. Learn new skills and add them to your resume. Take advantage of the little perks you are promised. The staff are happy only in their interactions with one another, not their job. -Human resources does not vet candidates well. You will find yourself working with sisters and brothers, husbands and wives. They then bring more family members and are all taught in a culture of taking short cuts. If you are not in those circles, you will be hard pressed to find joy among your coworkers and more work will be foisted upon you. -The company has been poorly run for years and they believe that in order to change the trajectory, they must keep the same proponents of the dysfunction in place and expect different results. You must resist the impulse to try and change things. People have been skating by over there for years and have no interest in doing any more than they have been doing. The management model embraces chaos and disorder, not consistency and order. *Learn new skills and network with outside providers. Some of the CSB folks will help you get a new job elsewhere. They know how dysfunctional MVLE is and if you ask for their opinion about the company they will tell you. Keep your resume fresh and keep applying for something better. This is no place to build sustainable career path. Good luck and use discernment.