Pros
- I worked at IPA for over three years (in three different country offices) and had five different supervisors, all of whom were amazing. I always had supervisors that cared about my career goals and professional development. - You get to work with high profile researchers (although as for the question of how closely, it varies by project) - The organisation puts a lot of emphasis on transparency and high rigour of research methods. Over the past years, IPA has developed great research protocols to follow, so you get to learn a lot about how to conduct and manage research projects. - IPA is well recognised in the industry. And the skills you gain from working at IPA will certainly land you a similar job relatively easily (e.g. consultancy with the world bank or other international organisations) - IPA provides a very good insurance policy and a good number of vacation days. Plus, if you're based in a country office, IPA also observes national holidays on top of the regular vacation days. - There is no politics and there always is great team spirit. People are always willing to help even if it falls beyond the scope of their job description. - You get to save a decent percentage of your income if you're living in a developing country.
Cons
- It's still a growing organisation and the rules may apply differently depending on the country office and your supervisor. - High turnover means there often are gaps in institutional knowledge and you might be unlucky to be the one who has to deal with the aftermath of poorly managed projects. - I think the benefits are fairly good if you compare IPA to similar organisations in the area. If you were to compare IPA to international organisations, it definitely lacks family-related benefits. I do not think IPA is a good employer for a parent with children because IPA does not subsidise housing or education of children which can be expensive in developing countries if you want to send them to international schools of high standard. - It's a fairly simple organisation with not many levels of jobs. Once you reach the manager level (which many do in their late 20s or early 30s), there is not much more to do from there unless you want to become a country director.