International Justice Mission Reviews

Cons

I have nothing negative to say.

Cons

Lack of diversity and career advancement, some senior leaders are completely out of touch with the reality that their divisions/teams are unhappy (or they're aware and simply don't care), and

Cons

Typical funding/resourcing challenges for an NGO. Staff must be really creative and efficient as the headcount and budget are very lean

Cons

As a new staff member, it can be quite difficult to find your place. One soon realizes that it's a "good ole boy" environment, with a few women who've been allowed to "play with the boys" for the long-haul. Quite a number of people have been let go for no apparent reason. Generally, it's not because of poor performance; often more of a matter of constantly changing strategic alignment. Some departures have been handled quite poorly and offensively--poor timing, lack of clear communication, and not always "above board" or with transparency. For some, very little to no recognition of time served, beyond the transactional issues you would expect to be addressed through HR. Many have felt like they were a pebble who made quite an impact, but were easily let go, dismissed, and forgotten. Some pretty amazing people in top positions have left because they just couldn't work with an organization that doesn't care more for it's people. Many of these issues are systemic at various levels, but the buck stops with senior leadership--CEO, president, and vice presidents.

Cons

They undervalue longevity and overvalue outside experience

Cons

Some IJM leaders at all levels consider the organization special or unique - and others act as if its the first organization to take on hard work.

Cons

Its an unpaid internship and DC is expensive (that's really it).. During my time there the intern support staff (HR people who help guide interns) were very "clickly" with certain interns which was irritating because it caused many people to feel left out, but I doubt they are working in those same roles now.

Cons

Difficult work-life balance given the pressure to constantly exceed expectations with scarce resources

Cons

Staff are almost always very stressed because there's an expectation to constantly bite off more than can be chewed due to the urgency of IJM's very compelling mission. As a result projects and change are poorly managed, lacking some very basic standard operating procedures, resulting in even more stress. IJM moves so quickly that it virtually never pauses to reflect, analyze, and learn. Lessons are not absorbed into the organization's knowledge & culture.

IJM seems fairly typical of DC culture - the expectation to be straight-laced and type-A. Add to that the slightly conservative bent of it being a christian organization and the requirements to dress in business formal clothing every day, the result is a suffocating company culture. Only work here if this sounds attractive to you.

IJM has grown very rapidly in recent years. As a result, their back-office operations have had tremendous growing pains, causing very high leadership turnover and chronically unfilled positions. Things feel constantly in-flux at IJM which takes its toll on everyone. If you interview at IJM, specifically in business or people operations, demand honest answers about leadership and management turnover before accepting an offer.

IJM has approached a lot of these problems by just hiring more staff, hoping that more employees will plug the gaps in missing or inconsistent back-office processes. Unfortunately, this not only makes back-office processes more disjointed; it also means that a staff's job description is only accurate for the duration of the quick-fix project they were hired to work on, if ever. As a result, there is no clear career path for most staff.

Even though IJM does commit a great deal of resources towards spiritual formation, quarterly retreats, daily prayer and sincerely pursues spiritual well-being in its work, I find that too often this results in dismissing pressing business operations problems with a "Just turn it over to the Lord," attitude, or outright hostility at being told where things need to improve. Comments on how to improve things disappear into the leadership void.

It pains me to say, because the mission of IJM is so important, but my overall experience with IJM was very negative.

Cons

At the same time, it can be easy to care about people that we've never met, and hard to care for people we see daily. There is a danger that some IJM staff can begin to rely on their own strength and achievements rather than trust in God, which can lead to pride and a disregard for colleagues who are at a lower rank or perceived as less important. There is also a huge wage gap that leaves lower-ranking employees barely able to afford rent and stigmatized so it's difficult for them to be promoted in the organization.