Pluspunten
You will meet the smartest and eloquent staff and leaders in the forefront of refugee resettlement and conflict resolution. The field staff are very committed and their passion is unquestionable. Even just talking to them gives you a certain kind of awe. You will have a humbling experience interacting with them as you learn about the lengths that they go to deliver aide and other resources to the most vulnerable people in the world.
Minpunten
While you will meet the most competent and passionate people especially field staff, you will also encounter the ugly face of corporate America - its greed, selfishness, and uncaring face in the IRC headquarters. It is really quite ironic being that it is a charitable organization that's supposed to show compassion and care. Now more than ever, because of the dire political climate imposed by the Trump administration, IRC leadership should have taken more action in saving the organization especially the lowest paid employees. Instead, they are ready to downsize almost without care, even if the senior officers all make 6 digit salary. If you look at the IRC's financial records, open to the public via the website and IRS or even Wikipedia, you will know that the CEO makes $600k - that's more than the salary of the US President. This alone, makes me so shameful and frustrated with the organization. There is always talks of budget cuts and it is quite tangible, but it never seemed to be an option for management to take a budget cut themselves for the good of the company. I think that's why IRC is on the decline because while it is still a prestigious organization, its resources are not efficiently allocated. There are more consultants hired than lower to mid-entry staff who "actually does the work", the very limited training funds are mostly allocated for the management (so bizarre - train the leaders but no program for staff), perhaps only 5% is allocated to staff. regretfully, there is no career growth in IRC unless you start in a senior position. Silo mentality is also a huge problem. There is no synergy between departments and is almost always fighting for resources instead of coming up with a joint resolution. Leaders only listen to other leaders, undermining the confidence and competence of staff. Currently, 1 or 2 people quit every month in the HQ.