it's a decent temporary gig, but dishonest office culture
Pros
If you can handle a bunch of teenagers in the woods, it can be fun at times. If you want to learn how to handle stressful, emergent situations, it's really good practice in situations where people are rarely in anything approaching life threatening danger. I learned a lot about backpacking and the outdoors from other field staff.
Cons
The organization is chronically mismanaged. It feels like a part time job for most of the higher ups, who strongly resist getting their hands dirty in the field. The owner "operator" was minimally involved in the day-to-day operations of the organization, and I never once in several years saw him go out into the field to see what was going on for himself. When I was there, they laid people off with no notice, and tried to publicly claim the circumstances were more favorable than they were in reality (directly lying and saying that the individuals in question had simply voluntarily quit or "wanted to go anyway"). Upper management (especially the owner) is really good at presenting a professional facade and empathetic spin on things, but as I got to know them I experienced a deeply rooted culture of manipulation, dishonesty, and ruthless behavior when they sincerely believed the ends justified the means.
