J-PAL Reviews

There are lots of frustrations though, biggest one being UCT. It takes ages to get anything done because of delays at the university. If it usually takes a month to do something somewhere else, it will take more than a year at J-PAL. You'll end up having to chase after and follow-up with people all day. Sometimes Field Officers are paid late. Contracting takes forever. It's really unprofessional and embarrassing especially when there are external stakeholders involved. Another issue I experienced was absent management. Managers are either sick, on leave or silent on meetings. Seeing that projects employ people, you'll probably find yourself taking on the management role so that no one is negatively impacted by delays. Things change so quickly because of high staff turnover. One year you could receive amazing mentorship and support and the next you can be completely on your own. No other benefits. Salary isn't competitive. Also realised you're disposable. I don't think J-PAL Africa cares about sustaining relationships. I've heard other RAs complaining because they don't have enough work and opportunity to build their skills. Another RA might have too much work and be on too many projects though so it's all dependent. In my experience, J-PAL Africa doesn't actually have any organisational values. There aren't really any standards or expectations of behaviour. I think FOs can be treated quite poorly if they're not managed by someone who cares. It's tricky to make decisions when you have no idea what values to uphold. You'll just end up upholding your own personal ones. There were no process documents when I joined. That astounded me.