Pros
- You will meet like-minded colleagues, a lot of good people pass through - Occasionally free vegan food - Good office location - Easy to get a role here with little or no experience, due to reasons below. But if you have another option, take it.
Cons
- One of the worst things is the deadly silent office. It is literally depressing to have to be in that space everyday (even if you have friends there, I imagine it would be intolerable without any). There is NO oral communication and everything is done through digital channels. If you do try to talk or chat, even in the kitchen area, management will complain about you. - Very low salary. Expected at an NGO, but this organisation will actively take steps to pay you as little as possible, and still expects everyone to work from the (obviously expensive to access) London office. - They mainly hire only very young and inexperienced people. This is because there is absolutely no interest in hearing ideas or innovation from staff, you are simply expected to be the dogsbody who will carry our their outdated strategies that come directly from the U.S. and the Director Ingrid Newkirk. Because of this, there are almost no learning opportunities. - No scope for growth or progression (even if you push for it) beyond minor vanity promotions (slightly changed title and tiny pay increase). They would rather hire a new staff member in your place that they can pay minimum wage than promote you. Staff are just numbers to them, the cheaper the better. - Constant turnover. They also create and change roles constantly without informing the team until the new staff member(s) arrive, leaving you unsure where you stand. - No job security. I saw people dismissed (with immediate effect) simply because they are not liked by "favoured" colleagues or the management. These are people who gave up real careers and prospects to dedicate their time to the cause for animals. Some people also have their probations extended seemingly endlessly. - You are not given feedback, but rather there is gossip amongst management that you eventually find out about. - I had managers make inappropriate comments about my personal life and even spread this invented gossip amongst colleagues. I am more than up for some banter .etc, but it was beyond that. - You write a "weekly report" with detailed information on every task you completed. This gets sent all the way up through management chains to Ingrid Newkirk, who apparently reads them all. Whilst reporting on progress is normal, this system is just weird. - Management are surely aware of all these issues and their constant staff turnover, but do not care or act. Ultimately, there is no compassion for people here.