Kennedy Center Reviews
Updated Jan 26, 2021
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Pros
"Jobs here can be a great start to a career continued at other organizations- great place to cut your teeth" (in 7 reviews)
"Discounted tickets to performances" (in 6 reviews)
Cons
"Fast paced, high turnover rates" (in 6 reviews)
"Not much room for growth or professional development" (in 6 reviews)
Pros & Cons are excerpts from user reviews. They are not authored by Glassdoor.
"Excellent place to begin a career in the arts!"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsPositive OutlookI worked at Kennedy Center part-time for more than a year
Pros
Positive work environment, great benefits, wonderful mentors.
Cons
Limited office space, work/life balance can sometimes be hard to find.
Continue reading"Development"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Diversity & Inclusion★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
I have been working at Kennedy Center full-time for less than a year
Pros
It is a very collaborative working environment
Cons
You will sometimes have to work weekends
"great place to start a development career"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Diversity & Inclusion★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Kennedy Center full-time for more than a year
Pros
attention to detail is superior. great place to start if you are interested in philanthropy. this is a large development shop where you will see best-in-class development practices, but because it is so big, there is an inability to innovate and do things differently. a big 'this is the way we have always done it' culture. opportunity to move up is there, but competitive. great benefits, awful pay.
Cons
not a lot of diversity. high turnover in the department. old-school management. lack of training for new managers.
"Great place to get your start / unsustainable work-life balance"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Diversity & Inclusion★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsNeutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOI worked at Kennedy Center full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
Access to amazing artists and programs, great coworkers who are passionate about the arts, great place to work when you're newly graduated/entering the work force
Cons
Work/life balance is very difficult, not much room for growth in terms of moving up to new positions and new salary, institution can be set in its old ways and processes
"Preschool Teacher"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Diversity & Inclusion★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Doesn't RecommendPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Kennedy Center full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
The pay is good compared to other companies
Cons
It doesn’t have much morale
- Helpful (2)
"Long hours, low pay / Good benefits, fun perks"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Diversity & Inclusion★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
I have been working at Kennedy Center full-time
Pros
Check out the cons - the pros are buried within
Cons
If you live and breathe the arts (i.e., you're willing to give them a huge chunk of your personal time over the course of your life, and you're willing to forego a much better salary you could make elsewhere), then the Kennedy Center is the place for you. Healthcare coverage and costs are excellent (though getting less and less so, as they look to shave overhead costs). And the perk of discounted tickets is nice if you tend to spend a lot of your hard-earned income on cultural experiences, and if you're willing to keep your schedule open up to the last minute in order to see if discounts will be offered to staff. Young people are valued for their willingness to work long hours for entry-level pay, which explains why there is such a high turnover in several departments there. Young people tend to work there to get solid experience in a top arts organization, and then leave after a year or two to move on to a much more impressive job title and salary. Mid-level managers and those with years of "institutional knowledge" tend not to be valued there as much as they used to be. These employees are typically referred to as "legacy" employees by senior management, and their insight and experience is rarely respected - it's rather seen as more of an obstacle to "innovation" and putting butts in seats. Quantity over quality, and chaos over communication, is the name of the game. Over the past few years, the culture there has moved to an "ask forgiveness, not permission" sensibility. You'll be told dozens of times that thousands of people would kill to have the job you do for half the salary you make, because you work in the arts and you're just lucky to be where you are. Ok, sure! Not everyone is there to just talk a big talk, though. Look for the helpers. They are there, hidden, and nice, doing the real work.
"Amazing Community of Colleagues"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Diversity & Inclusion★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsPositive OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Kennedy Center full-time
Pros
Good benefits, access to shows (sometime), and shared camaraderie for the arts.
Cons
Lack of transparency from executives at times.
Continue reading"Treated me well, grateful for my time there"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Diversity & Inclusion★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsNegative OutlookNo opinion of CEOI worked at Kennedy Center full-time
Pros
Supportive atmosphere, good colleagues, the ability to do work that meaningfully impacts the art we produced
Cons
A little bit of the harried feeling that you're always behind, there aren't quite enough people to do what needs to be done, and turnover that plagues most non-profits
Pros
The culture and work life balance
Cons
i liked everything about this place
- Helpful (2)
""Old American Institution...""
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookDisapproves of CEOI have been working at Kennedy Center full-time for more than a year
Pros
Great benefits and good people to work with at the AM level
Cons
The first time anyone told me anything about the Kennedy Center was that "it is an old American institution, and that means everything you think it means." If you know you know. You have to work in the Kennedy Center, which means all of the offices are in the negative spaces between the theater and the outside walls (aka no windows and low ceilings with pipes overhead) low light levels, and occasionally mice. In my time here there have been restructurings in the department, which were not transparent. They made an effort to solicit our feedback but ignored most of if not all of it. Benefits are good, but the pay is very low. Especially considering that the DMV area is a very expensive region for the cost of living. Limited opportunities for growth or professional development. Seems like there was a lot of bad financial management at the senior leadership level as well.
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