Pros
Amazing mission Direct impact — you know the work you do every day will improve the life of a refugee family. Diverse and passionate colleagues Clients are generally great to work with even if they present challenges You won’t walk away from this job wondering if your work was meaningful or impactful.
Cons
Local management. Pursuing ego goals instead responding to the realities of staff capacity, ideas, or morale. Something you’d expect from middle management at an insurance agency, not a leading NGO. Generally poor at directing people efficiently to get the results you need. Wildly varying sets of priorities that might change every hour — refusing to be the proverbial adult in the room when dealing with clients who are reluctant to face certain challenges. Beyond programs that require us to push clients toward self-sufficiency, there is always a level of give-and-take between accommodating every need and pushing clients to achieve things on their own. No consistency in where that boundary is and program staff are left to guess and bear the whims of management who don’t want to give staff space to do their jobs. At times it feels like management is living out a savior complex. Might be better in other field offices, might not. NYC HQ is disconnected and unsympathetic at times to the field staff who undoubtedly bear much more stress and emotional trauma, but that divide is going to exist anywhere between field staff and central management. Pay is nonprofit pay. Workload is not only large, but high-stakes and therefore extremely taxing. Turnover is part of the equation, not sure there’s a clear solution unless the US government decides to greatly increase funding. Good place to start a career, serve, and learn. I wouldn’t stay too long after that unless you are extremely committed to the work, in which case, there is huge opportunity to make a difference and change the culture as a manager.