U.S. Department of State Employee Reviews about "work life balance"
78% would recommend to a friend
(84 total reviews)
Antony Blinken
92% approve of CEO
Found 84 of over 2K reviews
Updated Dec 5, 2023
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "Great people; Intelligent and hardworking teammates on my team; State really pushes for optimum work" (in 119 reviews)
- "Great opportunity to get a clearance and exposure to the United States Government and Foreign Policy." (in 91 reviews)
- "far from your own country, poor management, difficult for singles AND married couples." (in 47 reviews)
- "Federal bureaucracy and lots of red tape as a result; long security clearance process; internship was unpaid and abroad thereby incurring personal spending." (in 37 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of U.S. Department of State and is not affected by filters.
Reviews about "work life balance"
Return to all Reviews- 5.0Jun 29, 2021Grants AdministratorCurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsTijuana, Baja California
Pros
Great work / life balance with personal life
Cons
I cant think of any.
- 4.0Aug 19, 2017Regional English Language OfficerCurrent Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
Great salary and benefits. interesting, fulfilling work.
Cons
limited freedom in personal life. moving every 2 to 3 yeas. very poor work life balance
- 4.0Mar 17, 2021AdviserFormer Employee
Pros
Level to high-level personnel and knowledge/expertise
Cons
Work life balance could be better- but it comes with the job.
- 4.0Aug 12, 2008Foreign Service OfficerCurrent EmployeeWashington, DC
Pros
The opportunity to travel and live in other countries and cultures and learn new languages. Employees with families are given a lot of benefits. Most of the employees are smart, good at their jobs, and decent people. Overseas, your housing is usually taken care of and you are given adequate amounts of time off. The work is usually challenging and interesting - no two days are the same.
Cons
I can basically sum up my personal major downside of working at DOS in the following sentence: they expect maximum flexibility and obedience from their employees, but do not show an ounce of flexibility or understanding in return. Work/life balance is messed up - you are basically available 24/7 and it can be exhausting. Working in Washington after living overseas can cause major financial difficulties b/c salaries are not commensurate with the cost of living in D.C. Singles are pretty much discriminated against across the board - positions and everything else favor tandem couples and families. One must put aside ethical and moral personal feelings if one does not agree with the current administration's policies. Favoritism is rampant. As it is a bureacracy, logic and reason and common sense do not always come into play when it comes to career opportunities - most of the time, you're just a body they need to plug into a position. Managers don't always recognize achievements and treat subordinates like automatons. The DOS is becoming more militarized, ie run like the DOD, particularly when it comes to assignments. We're not diplomats anymore; we're quasi-soldiers.
5 - 3.0Jun 1, 2010Anonymous EmployeeFormer EmployeeQuito
Pros
Great work/life balance as long as you don't mind being in a foreign country Considering benefits and diplomatic perks compensation can be excellent depending on which country you are in
Cons
It's very difficult to measure performance since the goals of the organization don't involve any measurable cash flow as in the private sector. This also can make it hard to quantify the good you may or may not be doing and thus make it harder to find satisfaction in your work.
2 - 1.0Nov 7, 2015Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee
Pros
Work hours can be limited to 40 hours so the positions do have a work life balance. IIP's main leadership group is innovative and has brought a number of positive changes to the organization. Location is central and the State Department is a great place to network.
Cons
The Office of Analytics's leadership has very little to no qualifications for leading a team of developers. Hence, the analytics leadership makes erratic project and hiring decisions. Multiple new candidates have been let go in the past few years due to "personal" disagreements. A core group of employees who have been has been on the team the longest tend to be threatened by new talent and treat new people poorly. Overall the work environment is negative and the projects uninteresting.
2 - 4.0Feb 15, 2022Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, more than 3 years
Pros
Smart colleagues Exciting work Make a difference
Cons
Work/life balance is sometimes difficult
- 4.0May 27, 2018Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
work life balance is good
Cons
carrier progress is a bit slow
- 4.0Aug 13, 2022Anonymous ContractorCurrent Contractor
Pros
good benefits and people, nice environment to work overall
Cons
work/life balance and competitive atmosphere
- 3.0Mar 3, 2023Foreign AffairsCurrent EmployeeWashington, DC
Pros
Passionate people. Cool issues to work on
Cons
Bureaucracy and work life balance
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