Pros
I got hired pretty much right out of college so it was a very reputable position to be in. I was excited to be part of such a prestigious organization with a great mission. They cover important issues and I truly believe that at the end of the day, they are making a positive difference in the world. Many of the pluses highlighted in the other reviews are true. Relative to peer organizations, the pay and total compensation package is better than average. The office space is gorgeous - white marble floors, steel fixtures, glass doors (HA! gets ironic quick). Amazing location, close to everything downtown DC has to offer. Many, if not all staff are some of the most intelligent people I've ever met and are very accomplished in their fields.
Cons
I've left PCT for over a year, and it's taken me this long to come to terms with the gripes I had with the work situation myself and many other colleagues were in. I think it really is a roll of the dice on which manager you're assigned to as well as the team environment of your particular department. Mine was nightmare-ish. In the beginning, I was a bumbling young professional, eager to please and advance and eventually make a real difference in the world. The team that I was hired onto had just been built so it was growing rapidly. I was assigned to a Sr. Director who was a very benevolent boss and pushed me beyond the duties of just a personal assistant, challenging me to explore different areas of work to find what I really wanted to do. Since the team was only in fragments when I arrived, I was handling many projects at once. I loved it. I did research, created content, and was even often asked of my opinion when we needed to solve a problem. It started to go downhill when I was confronted with working with someone (non-management position) who had a reputation of being difficult. This person made me stay late, a lowly personal assistant (like asking me to get them lunch or coffee because they were "too busy" - my Sr. Director never even did this, and even if he did, he's way higher up and I wouldn't mind) never gave me positive feedback, in fact, they blatantly talked down to me and generally stressed me out constantly (once, I refused to do something lowly and they threw the conference phone at me). But because I loved my work and didn't want to complain, it went on for months until my benevolent higher ups actually noticed and pulled me aside to ask if everything was okay. I was honest with them and told them exactly how I was being treated. They said that I wouldn't have to work with this person anymore. This person got "reprimanded" aka just a slap on the wrist and a stern talking-to. At this point, there had been dozens, and I mean 50+ new staff on our new team. I was then put under a new manager with seemingly no management experience whatsoever. I don't know how I rubbed this new manager wrong, but (over a long period of time) not only did they start working closely with THE PERSON WHO WAS MENTALLY ABUSING ME, but eventually completely stopped talking to me. Let me reiterate. My direct report stopped TALKING to me. I knew that this new manager was somewhat socially awkward, but I have never seen a lack of leadership or support in my life. They excluded me from every meeting, every phone call, every project task and conversation they had. They would avoid me at work, coming in almost 3 hours after I got there, and basically just ignoring me as much as possible for the rest of the day. At one point, they made me move my computer to a conference room to "monitor" our 3rd party vendors, meaning no one saw me for 2 months and I had no idea why I was there. My work basically got slowly taken away from me as new people got hired and eventually I was only scheduling meetings and putting together work parties. I really didn't know who I was or what my purpose was anymore. Clearly at this place, is truly better to be hated than ignored - the person who treated my horribly eventually got promoted despite everyone in the office disliking them. I had been worn down to a point where my manager basically decided to phase me out slowly, and I couldn't do anything about it because it showed that I was not making a contribution anymore, but it wasn't because I didn't want to, it was because of all of the situations I was put in by people who were supposed to mentor me. And I know I'm not the only one. I had many co-workers who were entry level or Associates that were mentally and verbally harassed on a daily basis. On my exit interview with HR, I never even bothered mentioning anything that happened because I knew that the complaints from my other co-workers were brushed off and sometimes they actually got in trouble for speaking up. After I left Pew, I seriously considered never going back to a corporate work environment because of just how traumatized and lost in life I felt. I was actually depressed for a long time, but I'm much happier doing something completely different now, so I finally felt ready to say something. Please stay far, far away.