There is a strange culture of ignorance. Nepotism is VERY common. Most people seemed to be promoted or hired because they are friends or family of the hiring manager. A weak union does little to stop the odd hiring process. The union rules are openly ignored in an apparent tacit collusion between management and the union.
There is little room to grow or advance. There is little training, mentoring, or employee development. The management will frequently hire someone’s relative or friend and mentor/train them. However, present union employees are seldom trained for new advanced jobs (UNLESS you are a relative or friend with the hiring manager). Again, the union will not involve itself. In short, most IT jobs are dead-end jobs at WSU.
Many departments are adversarial. There is frequently no design or development process offered for “getting things done.” There is frequently no connection to the outside IT departments or the “outside world.” Some department managers use an offensive, intimidating atmosphere as a management style. Actually, this seems often to be used as a method of making an employee quit so they may hire friends and family (I’ve seen that done to very good employees). Many good people are let go or resign.
