Santa Cruz Biotechnology Reviews

Updated May 13, 2016
116 reviews

Filter

Filter

Full-time Part-time
1.9
Star Star Star Star Star
Rating Trends Rating Trends
Recommend to a friend
Approve of CEO
(no image)
John Stephenson
79 Ratings

116 Employee Reviews

Sort: Popular Rating Date
Pros

  • Free food, nice coworkers, standard 9-5 m-f schedule for most departments (in 19 reviews)

  • Good work life balance (work exactly 8 hrs a day) (in 7 reviews)

Cons

  • poor management, no respect, no raises (in 14 reviews)

  • Everything revolves around the raise freeze (in 12 reviews)

More Pros and Cons

  1. Helpful (2)

    "Accounting Assistant"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Work/Life Balance
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    • Comp & Benefits
    • Senior Management
    Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Dallas, TX
    Current Employee - Anonymous Employee in Dallas, TX

    Pros

    Good exposure and a good way to start your career

    Cons

    Low pay
    Not many chances to grow

  2. Helpful (1)

    "It has been an experience to say the least"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Work/Life Balance
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    • Comp & Benefits
    • Senior Management
    Current Employee - Research Assistant in Santa Cruz, CA
    Current Employee - Research Assistant in Santa Cruz, CA

    I have been working at Santa Cruz Biotechnology full-time (More than a year)

    Pros

    Some of the pros to working here include the people I have gotten a chance to work with and experience

    Cons

    Some of the cons to working here include no incentive to achieve more and being underpaid compared to other biotech companies

    Advice to Management

    Please pay us more and provide incentives to work harder

  3. Helpful (1)

    "Boring"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    Former Employee - Accounting Assistant in Santa Cruz, CA
    Former Employee - Accounting Assistant in Santa Cruz, CA

    I worked at Santa Cruz Biotechnology part-time (Less than a year)

    Pros

    Some people are nice. Free bagels once in awhile

    Cons

    Tedious work. Wanted to fall asleep everyday. Heard they don't give references.

    Advice to Management

    Have a better corporate culture. Don't have it be a job where people come in, work, and leave. Ask people about their day, encourage people to bring in headphones and listen to music while working, and overall just make it a more lively environment. Also, when training someone new, tell them some background - don't just jump into training them.

    4. Is this helpful? The community relies on everyone sharing – Add Anonymous Review

  4. Helpful (2)

    "It's less like working at the Wal-Mart of biotech, and more like working at Wal-Mart."

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Work/Life Balance
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    • Comp & Benefits
    • Senior Management
    Former Employee - Research Assistant in San Luis Obispo, CA
    Former Employee - Research Assistant in San Luis Obispo, CA
    Doesn't Recommend
    Negative Outlook
    Disapproves of CEO

    I worked at Santa Cruz Biotechnology full-time (More than 3 years)

    Pros

    -Relatively lax workload, depending on where you end up
    -Potentially flexible hours

    Cons

    -There are no raises, just more work.
    -Unbelievably cheap owner/management means you'll be working with outdated/broken equipment.
    -You'll be threatened with your job if results aren't what management expects even if there is clear evidence it's not your fault.
    -The entire company's equipment is maintained by one in-house handyman, so if something important breaks expect your department to shut down until he can fly out to fix it.
    -Few people with advanced degrees, so very little actual scientific knowledge at the company. There are two people with PhDs and their sole purpose is making sure the company makes money.
    -Many illegal practices (often feels like working in the mafia) and there's a don't ask, don't tell policy when it comes to company business. Management will become irate if you ask too many questions.
    -These same illegal practices have led the company to be sued by the USDA, they are in court at the moment and will potentially to lose their sales license.
    -Management will deliberately lie to you as is company policy. Decisions are made by the owner on whim and kept from employees until management decides to break the news. Oh you have a degree in molecular biology? We don't need biologists any more so effective immediately you're making dog food.
    -It's company policy to not provide references to current employees. They also don't provide letters of recommendation, which is extremely ironic considering they require two letters of recommendation and three references to get hired.
    -An extreme amount of nepotism at the company. Half of the employees are related. If you're not related or married to someone higher up, don't expect a promotion.
    -Because of their legal troubles at home, the company is moving abroad to Canada as White Pine Supply Corporation. They've also moved some operations to China.

    Advice to Management

    Try finding another job instead of trying to make John's ridiculous money-making ideas work. You don't owe him anything and your life will be better for it.

  5. Helpful (1)

    "Embodiment of Corporate America"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Work/Life Balance
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    • Comp & Benefits
    • Senior Management
    Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
    Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
    Doesn't Recommend
    Negative Outlook
    Disapproves of CEO

    I have been working at Santa Cruz Biotechnology full-time (More than 5 years)

    Pros

    Flexible hours. Free bread.

    Cons

    Zero appreciation, lousy benefits, no pay raises, blatant violation of animal cruelty rights, no upward movement. This company is known for making terrible quality products. Tries to screw over employees every chance it can get. Bad science.

    Advice to Management

    There's nowhere to go but up, just get better.

  6. "Research Assistant"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Work/Life Balance
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    • Comp & Benefits
    • Senior Management
    Former Employee - Research Assistant in Santa Cruz, CA
    Former Employee - Research Assistant in Santa Cruz, CA
    Doesn't Recommend
    Negative Outlook
    Disapproves of CEO

    I worked at Santa Cruz Biotechnology full-time (More than a year)

    Pros

    Good place to get job experience after college. Many former employees go on to work for more high profile biotech companies. Free toast

    Cons

    Terrible retention rate and company morale

  7. "DO NOT WORK HERE!"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Work/Life Balance
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    • Comp & Benefits
    • Senior Management
    Current Employee - Licensing Coordinator
    Current Employee - Licensing Coordinator
    Doesn't Recommend
    Negative Outlook
    Disapproves of CEO

    I have been working at Santa Cruz Biotechnology full-time

    Pros

    You will have very nice coworkers but extremely poor management. Also, what you do you must avoid wicked witch guzman at all costs!

    Cons

    Micromanagement, no room for career growth, lack of transparency, little job security, no pay increase with ever growing responsibilities, zero company loyalty

    Advice to Management

    Karma will come to bite you all sooner rather than later. I hope the usda destroys you!

  8. "Accounting Assistant"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Work/Life Balance
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    • Comp & Benefits
    • Senior Management
    Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
    Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

    I worked at Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Less than a year)

    Pros

    Great learning experience for those who are beginning their professional career. Great people and free food days 3 times a month.

    Cons

    No room for growth. Miscommunication between company departments can make work difficult.

    Advice to Management

    Spread responsibility. Trust that your employees can handle more difficult projects and take some of the pressure off of upper management.

  9. "Technical Support"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    Former Employee - Technical Support Representative in Santa Cruz, CA
    Former Employee - Technical Support Representative in Santa Cruz, CA
    Doesn't Recommend
    Disapproves of CEO

    I worked at Santa Cruz Biotechnology full-time

    Pros

    Exposed to a wide range duties, which helps increase your knowledge-base and looks good on a resume. Wonderful co-workers.

    Cons

    The CEO is horrible, and made Tech Service do things others would consider unethical, including writing fake reviews and star ratings for products.

  10. "Entry level job"

    Star Star Star Star Star
    • Work/Life Balance
    • Culture & Values
    • Career Opportunities
    • Comp & Benefits
    • Senior Management
    Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
    Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
    Recommends
    Neutral Outlook
    No opinion of CEO

    Pros

    lots of freedom to work on you projects

    Cons

    repetitive work can be boring sometimes

Showing 116 of 116 reviews
Reset Filters
RSS Feed </> Embed