US Agency for International Development Reviews

Pros

Gratifying work, lots of great programs and results. Becoming more innovative everyday. Pay and benefits are good. Working for the Obama Administration and USAID is a privilege and an honor.

Cons

The mix of Foreign Service, Civil Service, and political appointees, with their different backgrounds, pace and interests, can make for difficult navigation. The boss is really pushing us all hard. Bureaucracy is like any other government agency or other big organization. Crappy HQ building.

Pros

All the safety of working for the federal government, if you are a direct hire. There are a few amazing groups (OFDA, OTI, etc) that do amazing work if you are lucky enough to work for them.

Cons

This place does NOT do international development. They do contract management on contracts that do international development. Do not think you will being doing amazing things on the ground in a foreign country unless "amazing" to you includes lots of paperwork. Total failure of long-time employees to understand and adapt to a changing environment.

Pros

Great place to start learning about the international development field
Learned about the various contractors the agency works with and about agency procedures related to contracts
A lot of seminars are available throughout the summer that interns can join in on

Cons

Takes ages to get computer access
Human Resources can be slow and not available when you need them (frustrating to be asked for fingerprints and such last minute)

Pros

Very committed staff; thus good for college students who want to explore or understand the field.
Respectful environment. Good work-life balance.

Cons

The work could be tedious sometimes. Besides, financing an internship here may be an issue for college students or fresh graduates.

Pros

This is the first place in the U.S. for development work.

Cons

It is a governmental agency and it bound by the US government approach on thing, which is not bad but does have its restrictions.

Advice to Senior Management

Be open to as much innovative ideas as possible from the privite sector.

Pros

Get to develop and manage implementation of high profile programs targeted to address development concerns in emerging economies. Intense, fast paced, great travel. The agency's top management positions are in demand means that one has the opportunity to go up the latter quickly.

Cons

The positive aspects can easily be overshadowed by government bureaucracy; one's talent is not completely tapped; exhaustive working in a fish bowl environment in an embassy setting; disorganized and top-down management.

Pros

Mission and goal to assist the poor and vulnerable is positive. Senior management is motivated by career advancement, pleasing higher level officials, and political manuvering.

Cons

Senior management has unreasonable expectations for new hires. Some managers are inexperienced and poor leaders. HR is too busy to assist.

Pros

The development mission in support of aspirations of people around the world for peace and prosperity; offers daunting challenges, but immense satisfaction. The ability to look back on a full USAID, much of it living in foreign countries, provides a sense of being part of world history, and the gratification of having tried to contribute positively.

Cons

By dedicating a life to work primarily overseas, roots at home remain shallow. As in most organizations, the bureaucracy can wear one down and demoralize, at times. Workplace satisfaction depends on the character of leadership, colleagues and for practitioners, the willingness (or not) of foreign counterparts to do or permit the right thing. One will find the full range of human temperament within co-workers and supervisors, that having been said, the organization inclines towards civility and non-confrontation styles of management, but the occasional crazy, ranter and raver, will rise in the system. The most disappointing aspect is when technical expertise is trumped by political expediency -- and political appointees across both republic and democrat administrations never fail to disappoint. "Resistence is Futile!"

Pros

This is the only Foreign Service Inspector General within the US Government. As a result, one has the opportunity to live abroad and travel to many foreign countries. This is the greatest perk. The downside is that unlike other Foreign Service organizations , the USAID-OIG generally requires that officers return to the US to serve a tour in Washington, DC after each tour abroad.

The only exception to this rule is that persons within the "clique" are frequently allowed to go on to follow-on Foreign tours without returning to the US.

Cons

This organization operates outside any normal principles on its own whim. For example, Foreign Service throughout the US Government are required to speak foreign languages, and speak multiple languages in order to be promoted. The USAID-OIG ignores these requirements and has many "Foreign Service Officers" at the highest levels who speak no foreign languages at all.

This is an organization that receives no oversight, which is hypocritical because the role of this organization is to ensure that USAID performs its functions correctly and without bias.

Advice to Senior Management

As noted before, this organization operated with impunity and is unconcerned with what anyone thinks of their operational manner. The management of this organization needs to be replaced.

Pros

I love the mission of the agency however, I often don't get a first hand look at the results of my work.

Cons

The agency is very top heavy so its hard to move up to another position if you are starting at a lower level. Most positions at headquarters are at the GS14 and for someone like me stuck at a GS 9 it is frustrating especially since I have a masters degree and am qualified for the positions but would never be selected. This is sort of a government problem too.