jobs at UW-Madison (college, to live, moving to)

[ms54302]

I'm considering moving to Madison later this year. In the last two years I've visited for short periods and have decided it is the place I want to live my last 20 years until retirement. By the way, is it correct to say "Mad City" or "Mad Town?" I've read both. I am a church musician with 25 years experience, but I hope to do something else starting this fall. Does anyone have any information about getting a job at the UW-Madison? I've already read the website and it seems like a good place to work. After having worked every weekend for 25 years, I want a Mon-Fri schedule. The benefits offered by the UW look very good, even if the pay is not great. I would appreciated hearing from anyone who works or who worked for the UW-Madison.

[Bo]

I used to work as an unclassified academic staff employee at UW-Madison. I was a salaried manager and I filled a few classified staff positions while I was there, so I know about both types of positions. Academic staff positions always require a college degree and many of them require an advanced degree. They have the same benefits and most of the same perks as faculty positions.

Most of the positions that come open there are for classified staff, which are service and clerical type hourly positions that may or may not require a degree. Most of those also have compulsory union membership. The union contract places a lot of value on seniority. If you are new to the system and get a position during a time when another department is laying off people in the same position category, you can get bumped out of your position by a more senior union member. That union member can take your job and you can either bump someone else with less seniority than you or lose your job and have to be rehired by another department. The prime new opportunities usually get filled quickly through this bumping system.

Usually the work hours of full-time classified positions are a very rigid 7:45-4:30 schedule Monday-Friday. It sounds like that schedule will suit your needs. I was flexible as a manager and let my people work a mutually agreeable schedule that took them out of rush hour traffic.

As a manager, I despised the bumping system, because it replaced a couple of good employees I had carefully selected with what can best be described as dead wood types. I can imagine that new employees must live in fear of it, too.

You can look at current open positions and read more about the two types of positions here. I would also recommend looking for open positions at UW-Extension, which has openings on the campus and around the state posted here.