Unable to escape the US Gov contractor mentality
Pros
If you work in the field, its incredible. 6 moths abroad taught me more than years in a home office. I experienced none of the Cons below in the field. I count my move from the field to the home office for "job security" as one of the worst choices I have ever made, as it sapped my faith in the whole Development Sector (read: Industry).
Cons
1. Avoid becoming a "Project Coordinator." This level where the most burnout happens. Poor management, long hours, high expectations, extremely high competition, and low pay drive out a lot of talented folks. This is also where most "cuts" are. 2. Co-Workers can be cut-throat. Let's face it, this field attracts rising stars. The unfortunate reality is people here often rise at the cost of others. Because of this, my department was a gloomy, quiet place where no one spoke and people kept files on each other. One co-worker even saved all of his correspondences on a removable drive because, "You will need to cover your [butt]." To illustrate this point: On day ONE, I was chewed out for following a faulty set of instructions my co-worker gave me. Although he had the opportunity to step in and assume responsibility, he stayed silent. When approached later, he said, "That should teach you to always verify." Things only got worse from there! 3. DAI can be "clickish." Long hours usually means your only friends are your co-workers. It doesn't help that most people moved to the DC are from places like Dubuque, Iowa, knowing no one in the area. The first friends they often make are the cubicle moles next to them. Longtimers (read: those that have survived for 9 months) often cluster together, dismissing "greenhorns" who have the life expectancy of Infantry at D-Day. I don't blame them! If you managed to find a group of colleagues that won't feed you to the sharks for brownie points, I'd stick to them like glue too! 4. Its about making money stupid. DAI will beat the mantra of "we're a business that operates like a non-profit." Funny thing is, I never saw the level of blame shifting, betrayal, fact-hiding, and general A-type snobbery in the name of personal advancement and profit ... in the FOR-PROFIT sector(read: not in the Development Industry). The mission is about making money at Home Office. Your mission is professional advancement in a field where everyone is as good or better than your are. That means one thing: If you treat this like your run of the mill, mom & pop non-profit, you will be eaten alive. 5. This will all suck your soul away. People at Home Office actively delude themselves into thinking they are doing "good for the world" while "accidentally" forwarding email chains with other peoples' mistakes to managers, filing in blanks in auditable material before the RIG shows up, taking out higher insurance policies on people going to "safe" areas in Afghanistan (only to see them brutally murdered months later), falsifying time cards, and I could go on. If these are the people who grease the wheels in our country's philanthropic efforts... well no wonder International Development is so jammed up! -